University  of  Calif ornia  •  Berkeley 

The  Theodore  H.  Koundakjian 

Collection 
of  American  Humor 


NARRATIVE 


OF   THE 


LIFE  OF  DAVID   CROCKETT, 

OP    THE    STATE    OF    TENNESSEE. 


I  leave  this  rule  for  others  when  I'm  dead, 
Be  always  sure  you're  right — THEN  GO  AHEAD  ! 

THE  AUTHOR. 


WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF. 


SIXTH    EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA . 

E.   L.    CAREY   AND    A.   HART. 

BALTIMORE: 
CAREY,    HART   &    C  O- 

1834. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1834, 

BY  DAVID  CROCKETT, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 


STEREOTYPED    BY    L     JOHNSON, 
PHILADELPHIA.. 


PREFACE. 


FASHION  is  a  thing  I  care  mighty  little 
about,  except  when  it  happens  to  run  just 
exactly  according  to  my  own  notion  ;  and 
I  was  mighty  nigh  sending  out  my  book 
without  any  preface  at  all,  until  a  notion 
struck  me,  that  perhaps  it  was  necessary  to 
explain  a  little  the  reason  why  and  where 
fore  I  had  written  it. 

Most  of  authors  seek  fame,  but  I  seek  for 
justice, — a  holier  impulse  than  ever  entered 
into  the  ambitious  struggles  of  the  votaries 
of  \hatfickk)  flirting  goddess. 

A  publication  has  been  made  to  the 
world,  which  has  done  me  much  injus 
tice  ;  and  the  catchpenny  errors  which  it 


4  PREFACE. 

contains,  have  been  already  too  long  sanc 
tioned  by  my  silence.  I  don't  know  the 
author  of  the  book — and  indeed  I  don't 
want  to  know  him ;  for  after  he  has  taken 
such  a  liberty  with  my  name,  and  made 
such  an  effort  to  hold  me  up  to  public 
ridicule,  he  cannot  calculate  on  any  thing 
but  my  displeasure.  If  he  had  been  con 
tent  to  have  written  his  opinions  about  me, 
however  contemptuous  they  might  have 
been,  I  should  have  had  less  reason  to  com 
plain.  But  when  he  professes  to  give  my 
narrative  (as  he  often  does)  in  my  own 
language,  and  then  puts  iftto  my  mouth 
such  language  as  would  disgrace  even  an 
outlandish  African,  he  must  himself  be 
sensible  of  the  injustice  he  has  done  me, 
and  the  trick  he  has  played  off  on  the  pub- 
lick.  I  have  met  with  hundreds,  if  not  with 
thousands  of  people,  who  have  formed  their 
opinions  of  my  appearance,  habits,  Ian- 


PREFACE.  5 

guage,  and  every  thing  else  from  that  de 
ceptive  work. 

They  have  almost  in  every  instance  ex 
pressed  the  most  profound  astonishment  at 
finding  me  in  human  shape,  and  with  the 
countenance,  appearance,  and  common  feel 
ings  of  a  human  being.  It  is  to  correct  all 
these  false  notions,  and  to  do  justice  to  my 
self,  that  I  have  written. 

It  is  certain  that  the  writer  of  the  hook 
alluded  to  has  gathered  up  many  imperfect 
scraps  of  information  concerning  me,  as  in 
parts  of  his  work  there  is  some  little  sem 
blance  of  truth.  But  I  ask  him,  if  this 
notice  should  ever  reach  his  eye,  how 
would  he  have  liked  it,  if  I  had  treated  him 
so  ? — if  I  had  put  together  such  a  bundle  of 
ridiculous  stuff,  and  headed  it  with  his 
name,  and  sent  it  out  upon  the  world  with 
out  ever  even  condescending  to  ask  his  per 
mission  ?  To  these  questions,  all  upright 

A2 


(3  PREFACE. 

men  must  give  the  same  answer.  It  was 
wrong;  and  the  desire  to  make  money 
by  it,  is  no  apology  for  such  injustice  to  a 
fellowT  man. 

But  1  let  him  pass ;  as  my  wish  is  great 
ly  more  to  vindicate  myself,  than  to  con 
demn  him. 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  endeavour 
ed  to  give  the  reader  a  plain,  honest,  home 
spun  account  of  my  state  in  life,  and  some 
few  of  the  difficulties  w7hich  have  attended 
me  along  its  journey,  down  to  this  time. 
I  am  perfectly  aware,  that  I  have  related 
many  small  and,  as  I  fear, -uninteresting 
circumstances ;  but  if  so,  my  apology  is, 
that  it  was  rendered  necessary  by  a  desire 
to  link  the  different  periods  of  my  life  to 
gether,  as  they  have  passed,  from  my  child 
hood  onward,  and  thereby  to  enable  the 
reader  to  select  such  parts  of  it  as  he  may 
relish  most,  if,  indeed,  there  is  any  thing  in 
it  which  may  suit  his  palate. 


PREFACE.  7 

I  have  also  been  operated  on  by  another 
consideration.  It  is  this: — I  know,  that 
obscure  as  I  am,  my  name  is  making  a  con 
siderable  deal  of  fuss  in  the  world.  I  can't 
tell  why  it  is,  nor  in  what  it  is  to  end.  Go 
where  I  will,  everybody  seems  anxious  to 
get  a  peep  at  me  ;  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
tell  which  would  have  the  advantage,  if 
I,  and  the  "  Government,"  and  "  Black 
Hawk,"  and  a  great  eternal  big  caravan  of 
wild  varments  were  all  to  be  showed  at  the 
same  time  in  four  different  parts  of  any  of 
the  big  cities  in  the  nation.  I  am  not  so 
sure  that  I  shouldn't  get  the  most  custom 
of  any  of  the  crew.  There  must  therefore 
be  something  in  me,  or  about  me,  that  at 
tracts  attention,  which  is  even  mysterious 
to  myself.  I  can't  understand  it,  and  I 
therefore  put  all  the  facts  down,  leav 
ing  the  reader  free  to  take  his  choice  of 
them. 


8  PREFACE. 

On  the  subject  of  my  style,  it  is  bad 
enough,  in  all  conscience,  to  please  critics, 
if  that  is  what  they  are  after.  They  are  a 
sort  of  vermin,  though,  that  I  sha'n't  even 
so  much  as  stop  to  brush  off.  If  they  want 
to  work  on  my  book,  just  let  them  go 
ahead ;  and  after  they  are  done,  they  had 
better  blot  out  all  their  criticisms,  than  to 
know  what  opinion  I  would  express  of 
them,  and  by  what  sort  of  a  curious  name 
I  would  call  them,  if  I  was  standing  near 
them,  and  looking  over  their  shoulders. 
They  will,  at  most,  have  only  their  trouble 
for  their  pay.  But  I  rather  expect  I  shall 
have  them  on  my  side. 

But  I  don't  know  of  any  thing  in  my 
book  to  be  criticised  on  by  honourable  men. 
Is  it  on  my  spelling  ? — that's  not  my  trade. 
Is  it  on  my  grammar  ? — I  hadn't  time  to 
learn  it,  and  make  no  pretensions  to  it.  Is 
it  on  the  order  and  arrangement  of  my 


PREFACE.  9 

book  ? — I  never  wrote  one  before,  and  never 
read  very  many;  and,  of  course,  know 
mighty  little  about  that.  Will  it  be  on 
the  authorship  of  the  book  ? — this  I  claim, 
and  I  '11  hang  on  to  it,  like  a  wax  plaster. 
The  whole  book  is  my  own,  and  every 
sentiment  and  sentence  in  it.  I  would  not 
be  such  a  fool,  or  knave  either,  as  to  deny 
that  I  have  had  it  hastily  run  over  by  a 
friend  or  so,  and  that  some  little  alterations 
have  been  made  in  the  spelling  and  gram 
mar  ;  and  I  am  not  so  sure  that  it  is  not 
the  worse  of  even  that,  for  I  despise  this 
way  of  spelling  contrary  to  nature.  And  as 
for  grammar,  it's  pretty  much  a  thing  of 
nothing  at  last,  after  all  the  fuss  that's 
made  about  it.  In  some  places,  I  wouldn't 
suffer  either  the  spelling,  or  grammar,  or 
any  thing  else  to  be  touch'd;  and  there 
fore  it  will  be  found  in  my  own  way. 
But  if  any  body  complains  that  I  have 


24   % 

10  PREFACE. 

had  it  looked  over,  I  can  only  say  to  him. 
her,  or  them— as  the  case  maybe—that  while 
critics  were  learning  grammar,  and  learn 
ing  to  spell,  I,  and  "Doctor  Jackson, 
L.L.D."  were  fighting  in  the  wars;  and 
if  our  books,  and  messages,  and  proclama 
tions,  and  cabinet  writings,  and  so  forth, 
and  so  on,  should  need  a  little  looking 
over,  and  a  little  correcting  of  the  spell 
ing  and  the  grammar  to  make  them  fit  for 
use,  its  just  nobody's  business.  Big  men 
have  more  important  matters  to  attend 
to  than  crossing  their  /'s — ,  and  dotting 
their  fs — ,  and  such  like  small  things. 
But  the  "Government's"  name  is  to  the 
proclamation,  and  my  name's  to  the  book ; 
and  if  I  didn't  write  the  book,  the  "  Go 
vernment"  didn't  write  the  proclamation, 
which  no  man  dares  to  deny ! 

But  just  read  for  yourself,  and  my  ears 
for  a  heel  tap,  if  before  you  get  through 


PREFACE.  XI 

you  don't  say,  with  many  a  good-natured 
smile  and  hearty  laugh,  "This  is  truly 
the  very  thing  itself — the  exact  image  of 
its  Author, 


DAVID    CROCKETT." 


WASHINGTON  CITY, 
February  1st,  1834. 


NARRATIVE 


LIFE   OF  DAVID  CROCKETT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

As  the  public  seem  to  feel  some  interest  in  the 
history  of  an  individual  so  humble  as  I  am,  and 
as  that  history  can  be  so  well  known  to  no  person 
living  as  to  myself,  I  have,  after  so  long  a  time, 
and  under  many  pressing  solicitations  from  my 
friends  and  acquaintances,  at  last  determined  to 
put  my  own  hand  to  it,  and  lay  before  the  world 
a  narrative  on  which  they  may  at  least  rely  as 
being  true.  And  seeking  no  ornament  or  colour 
ing  for  a  plain,  simple  tale  of  truth,  I  throw  aside 
all  hypocritical  and  fawning  apologies,  and,  ac 
cording  to  my  own  maxim,  just  "go  ahead." 
Where  I  am  not  known,  I  might,  perhaps,  gain 
some  little  credit  by  having  thrown  around  this 
volume  some  of  the  flowers  of  learning  ;  but. 
B  13 


14  THE  LIFE  OF 

where  I  am  known,  the  vile  cheatery  would  soon 
be  detected,  and  like  the  foolish  jackdaw,  that 
with  a  borrowed  tail  attempted  to  play  the  pea 
cock,  I  should  be  justly  robbed  of  my  pilfered 
ornaments,  and  sent  forth  to  strut  without  a  tail 
for  the  balance  of  my  time.  I  shall  commence 
my  book  with  what  little  I  have  learned  of  the 
history  of  my  father,  as  all  great  men  rest  many, 
if  not  most,  of  their  hopes  on  their  noble  ancestry. 
Mine  was  poor,  but  I  hope  honest,  and  even  that 
is  as  much  as  many  a  man  can  say.  But  to  my 
subject. 

My  father's  name  was  John  Crockett,  and  he 
was  of  Irish  descent.  He  was  either  born  in 
Ireland  or  on  a  passage  from  that  country  to  Ame 
rica  across  the  Atlantic.  He  was  by  profession  a 
farmer,  and  spent  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  The  name  of  my  mother 
was  Rebecca  Hawkins.  She  was  an  American 
woman,  born  in  the  state  of  Maryland,  between 
York  and  Baltimore.  It  is  likely  I  may  have 
heard  where  they  were  married,  but  if  so,  I  have 
forgotten.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  they  were, 
or  else  the  public  would  never  have  been  troubled 
with  the  history  of  David  Crockett,  their  son. 

I  have  an  imperfect  recollection  of  the  part 
which  I  have  understood  my  father  took  in  the 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  15 

revolutionary  war.  I  personally  know  nothing 
about  it,  for  it  happened  to  be  a  little  before  my 
day  ;  but  from  himself,  and  many  others  who 
were  well  acquainted  with  its  troubles  and  afflic 
tions,  I  have  learned  that  he  was  a  soldier  in  the 
revolutionary  war,  and  took  part  in  that  bloody 
struggle.  He  fought,  according  to  my  information, 
in  the  battle  at  Kings  Mountain  against  the  Bri 
tish  and  tories,  and  in  some  other  engagements  of 
which  my  remembrance  is  too  imperfect  to  enable 
me  to  speak  with  any  certainty.  At  some  time, 
though  I  cannot  say  certainly  when,  my  father,  as 
I  have  understood,  lived  in  Lincoln  county,  in  the 
state  of  North  Carolina.  How  long,  I  don't  know. 
But  when  he  removed  from  there,  he  settled  in 
that  district  of  country  which  is  now  embraced  in 
the  east  division  of  Tennessee,  though  it  was  not 
then  erected  into  a  state. 

He  settled  there  under  dangerous  circumstances, 
both  to  himself  and  his  family,  as  the  country 
was  full  of  Indians,  who  were  at  that  time  very 
troublesome.  By  the  Creeks,  my  grandfather  and 
grandmother  Crockett  were  both  murdered,  in 
their  own  house,  and  on  the  very  spot  of  ground 
where  Rogersville,  in  Hawkins  county,  now  stands. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Indians  wounded  Joseph 
Crockett,  a  brother  to  my  father,  by  a  ball,  which 


16  THE  LIFE  OF 

broke  his  arm  ;  and  took  James  a  prisoner,  who 
was  still  a  younger  brother  than  Joseph,  and  who, 
from  natural  defects,  was  less  able  to  make  his  es 
cape,  as  he  was  both  deaf  and  dumb.  He  remained 
with  them  for  seventeen  years  and  nine  months, 
when  he  was  discovered  and  recollected  by  my 
father  and  his  eldest  brother,  William  Crockett  ; 
and  was  purchased  by  them  from  an  Indian 
trader,  at  a  price  which  I  do  not  now  remember  ; 
but  so  it  was,  that  he  was  delivered  up  to  them, 
and  they  returned  him  to  his  relatives.  He  now 
lives  in  Cumberland  county,  in  the  state  of  Ken 
tucky,  though  I  have  not  seen  him  for  many 
years. 

My  father  and  mother  had  six  sons  and  three 
daughters.  I  was  the  fifth  son.  What  a  pity  I 
hadn't  been  the  seventh  !  For  then  I  might  have 
been,  by  common  consent,  called  doctor,  as  a 
heap  of  people  get  to  be  great  men.  But,  like 
many  of  them,  I  stood  no  chance  to  become  great 
in  any  other  way  than  by  accident.  As  my  father 
was  very  poor,  and  living  as  he  did  far  back  in 
the  back  woods,  he  had  neither  the  means  nor  the 
opportunity  to  give  me,  or  any  of  the  rest  of  his 
children,  any  learning. 

But  before  I  get  on  the  subject  of  my  own  trou 
bles,  and  a  great  many  very  funny  things  that 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  17 

have  happened  to  me,  like  all  other  historians  and 
bioagraphers,  I  should  not  only  inform  the  public 
that  I  was  born,  myself,  as  well  as  other  folks,  but 
that  this  important  event  took  place,  according  to 
the  best  information  I  have  received  on  the  sub 
ject,  on  the  17th  of  August,  in  the  year  1786; 
whether  by  day  or  night,  I  believe  I  never  heard, 
but  if  I  did  I,  have  forgotten.  I  suppose,  however, 
it  is  not  very  material  to  my  present  purpose,  nor 
to  the  world,  as  the  more  important  fact  is  well 
attested,  that  I  was  born  ;  and,  indeed,  it  might  be 
inferred,  from  my  present  size  and  appearance,  that 
I  was  pretty  we.ll  born,  though  I  have  never  yet 
attached  myself  to  that  numerous  and  worthy 
society. 

At  that  time  my  father  lived  at  the  mouth  of 
Lime  Stone,  on  the  Nola-chucky  river ;  and  for 
the  purpose  not  only  of  showing  what  sort  of  a 
man  I  now  am,  but  also  to  show  how  soon  I  began 
to  be  a  sort  of  a  little  man,  I  have  endeavoured 
to  take  the  back  track  of  life,  in  order  to  fix  on 
the  first  thing  that  I  can  remember.  But  even 
then,  as  now,  so  many  things  were  happening, 
that  as  Major  Jack  Downing  would  say,  they  are  all 
in  "  a  pretty  considerable  of  a  snarl,"  and  I  find  it 
"  kinder  hard"  to  fix  on  that  thing,  among  them 
all,  which  really  happened  first.  But  I  think  it 
B  2 


X8  THE  LIFE  OF 

likely,  I  have  hit  on  the  outside  line  of  my  recol 
lection  ;  as  one  thing  happened  at  which  I  was  so 
badly  scared,  that  it  seems  to  me  I  could  not  have 
forgotten  it,  if  it  had  happened  a  little  time  only 
after  I  was  born.  Therefore  it  furnishes  me  with 
no  certain  evidence  of  my  age  at  the  time;  but  I 
know  one  thing  very  well,  and  that  is,  that  when 
it  happened,  I  had  no  knowledge  of  the  use  of 
breeches,  for  I  had  never  had  any  nor  worn  any. 

But  the  circumstance  was  this :  My  four  elder 
brothers,  and  a  well-grown  boy  of  about  fifteen 
years  old,  by  the  name  of  Campbell,  and  myself, 
were  all  playing  on  the  river's  side ;  when  all  the 
rest  of  them  got  into  my  father's  canoe,  and  put 
out  to  amuse  themselves  on  the  water,  leaving  me 
on  the  shore  alone. 

Just  a  little  distance  below  them,  there  was  a 
fall  in  the  river,  which  went  slap-right  straight 
down.  My  brothers,  though  they  were  little  fel 
lows,  had  been  used  to  paddling  the  canoe,  and 
could  have  carried  it  safely  anywhere  about  there; 
but  this  fellow  Campbell  wouldn't  let  them 
have  the  paddle,  but,  fool  like,  undertook  to  ma 
nage  it  himself.  I  reckon  he  had  never  seen  a 
water  craft  before  ;  and  it  went  just  any  way  but 
the  way  he  wanted  it.  There  he  paddled,  and 
paddled,  and  paddled — all  the  while  going  wrong, 


I/AVID  CROCKETT.  19 

— until,  in  a  short  time,  here  they  were  all  going, 
straight  forward,  stern  foremost,  right  plump  to 
the  falls  ;  and  if  they  had  only  had  a  fair  shake, 
they  would  have  gone  over  as  slick  as  a  whistle. 
It  was'ent  this,  though,  that  scared  me  ;  for  I  was 
so  infernal  mad  that  they  had  left  me  on  the  shore, 
that  I  had  as  soon  have  seen  them  all  go  over  the 
falls  a  bit,  as  any  other  way.  But  their  danger 
was  seen  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Kendall,  but  I'll 
be  shot  if-  it  was  Amos  ;  for  I  believe  I  would 
know  him  yet  if  I  was  to  see  him.  This  man 
Kendall  was  working  in  a  field  on  the  bank,  and 
knowing  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  he  started  full 
tilt,  and  here  he  come  like  a  cane  brake  afire  ; 
and  as  he  ran,  he  threw  off  his  coat,  and  then  his 
jacket,  and  then  his  shirt,  for  I  know  when  he  got 
to  the  water  he  had  nothing  on  but  his  breeches. 
But  seeing  him  in  such  a  hurry,  and  tearing  off 
his  clothes  as  he  went,  I  had  no  doubt  but  that  the 
devil  or  something  else  was  after  him — and  close 
on  him,  too — as  he  was  running  within  an  inch  of 
his  life.  This  alarmed  me,  and  I  screamed  out 
like  a  young  painter.  But  Kendall  didn't  stop 
for  this.  He  went  ahead  with  all  might,  and  as 
full  bent  on  saving  the  boys,  as  Amos  was  on 
moving  the  deposites.  When  he  came  to  the  wa 
ter  he  plunged  in,  and  where  it  was  too  deep  to 


20  THE  LIFE   OF 

wade  he  would  swim,  and  where  it  was  shallow 
enough  he  went  bolting  on  ;  and  by  such  exertion 
as  I  never  saw  at  any  other  time  in  my  life, 
he  reached  the  canoe,  when  it  was  within  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  of  the  falls  ;  and  so  great  was  the 
suck,  and  so  swift  the  current,  that  poor  Ken 
dall  had  a  hard  time  of  it  to  stop  them  at  last, 
as  Amos  will  to  stop  the  mouths  of  the  people 
about  his  stockjobbing.  But  he  hung  on  to  the 
canoe,  till  he  got  it  stop'd,  and  then  draw'd  it 
out  of  danger.  When  they  got  out,  I  found  the 
boys  were  more  scared  than  I  had  been,  and  the 
only  thing  that  comforted  me  was,  the  belief 
that  it  was  a  punishment  on  them  for  leaving 
me  on  shore. 

Shortly  after  this,  my  father  removed,  and 
settled  in  the  same  county,  about  ten  miles  above 
Greenville. 

There  another  circumstance  happened,  which 
made  a  lasting  impression  on  my  memory, 
though  I  was  but  a  small  child.  Joseph  Haw 
kins,  who  was  a  brother  to  my  mother,  was 
in  the  woods  hunting  for  deer.  He  was  passing 
near  a  thicket  of  brush,  in  which  one  of  our 
neighbours  was  gathering  some  grapes,  as  it  was 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  the  grape  season. 
The  body  of  the  man  was  hid  by  the  brush, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  21 

and  it  was  only  as  he  would  raise  his  hand  to 
pull  the  bunches,  that  any  part  of  him  could  be 
seen.  It  was  a  likely  place  for  deer  ;  and  my 
uncle,  having  no  suspicion  that  it  was  any  human 
being,  but  supposing  the  raising  of  the  hand  to 
be  the  occasional  twitch  of  a  deer's  ear,  fired  at 
the  lump,  and  as  the  devil  would  have  it,  un 
fortunately  shot  the  man  through  the  body.  I 
saw  my  father  draw  a  silk  handkerchief  through 
the  bullet  hole,  and  entirely  through  his  body ; 
yet  after  a  while  he  got  well,  as  little  as  any  one 
would  have  thought  it.  What  become  of  him, 
or  whether  he  is  dead  or  alive,  I  don't  know  ; 
but  I  reckon  he  did'ent  fancy  the  business  of  ga 
thering  grapes  in  an  out-of-the-way  thicket  soon 
again. 

The  next  move  my  father  made  was  to  the 
mouth  of  Cove  creek,  where  he  and  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Thomas  Galbreath  undertook  to  build  a 
mill  in  partnership.  They  went  on  very  well 
with  their  work  until  it  was  nigh  done,  when 
there  came  the  second  epistle  to  Noah's  fresh,  and 
away  went  their  mill,  shot,  lock,  and  barrel.  I 
remember  the  water  rose  so  high,  that  it  got  up 
into  the  house  we  lived  in,  and  my  father  moved 
us  out  of  it,  to  keep  us  from  being  drowned.  I 
was  now  about  seven  or  eight  years  old,  and  have 


22  THE  LIFE  OF 

a  pretty  distinct  recollection  of  every  thing  that 
was  going  on.  From  his  bad  luck  in  that  bu 
siness,  and  being  ready  to  wash  out  from  mill 
building,  my  father  again  removed,  and  this  time 
settled  in  Jefferson  county,  now  in  the  state  of 
Tennessee  ;  where  he  opened  a  tavern  on  the  road 
from  Abbingdon  to  Knoxville. 

His  tavern  was  on  a  small  scale,  as  he  was  poor ; 
and  the  principal  accommodations  which  he  kept, 
were  for  the  waggoners  who  travelled  the  road. 
Here  I  remained  with  him  until  I  was  twelve 
years  old  ;  and  about  that  time,  you  may  guess,  if 
you  belong  to  Yankee  land,  or  reckon,  if  like  me 
you  belong  to  the  back-woods,  that  I  began  to 
make  up  my  acquaintance  with  hard  times,  and  a 
plenty  of  them. 

An  old  Dutchman,  by  the  name  of  Jacob  Siler, 
who  was  moving  from  Knox  county  to  Rock- 
bridge,  in  the  state  of  Virginia,  in  passing,  made  a 
stop  at  my  father's  house.  He  had  a  large  stock 
of  cattle,  that  he  was  carrying  on  with  him  ;  and  I 
suppose  made  some  proposition  to  my  father  to 
hire  some  one  to  assist  him. 

Being  hard  run  every  way,  and  having  no 
thought,  as  I  believe,  that  I  was  cut  out  for  a 
Congressman  or  the  like,  young  as  I  was,  and  as 
little  as  I  knew  about  travelling,  or  being  from 


DAVID  CROCKETT  23 

home,  he  hired  me  to  the  old  Dutchman,  to  go 
four  hundred  miles  on  foot,  with  a  perfect  stranger 
that  I  never  had  seen  until  the  evening  before.  I 
set  out  with  a  heavy  heart,  it  is  true,  but  I  went 
ahead,  until  we  arrived  at  the  place,  which  was 
three  miles  from  what  is  called  the  Natural  Bridge, 
and  made  a  stop  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Hartley, 
who  was  father-in-law  to  Mr.  Siler,  who  had 
hired  me.  My  Dutch  master  was  very  kind  to 
me,  and  gave  me  five  or  six  dollars,  being  pleased, 
as  he  said,  with  my  services. 

This,  however,  I  think  was  a  bait  for  me,  as  he 
persuaded  me  to  stay  with  him,  and  not  return 
any  more  to  my  father.  I  had  been  taught  so 
many  lessons  of  obedience  by  my  father,  that  I 
at  first  supposed  I  was  bound  to  obey  this  man, 
or  at  least  I  was  afraid  openly  to  disobey  him  ;  and 
I  therefore  staid  with  him,  and  tried  to  put  on  a 
look  of  perfect  contentment  until  I  got  the  family 
all  to  believe  I  was  fully  satisfied.  I  had  been 
there  about  four  or  five  weeks,  when  one  day  my 
self  and  two  other  boys  were  playing  on  the  road 
side,  some  distance  from  the  house.  There  came 
along  three  waggons.  One  belonged  to  an  old 
man  by  the  name  of  Dunn,  and  the  others  to  two 
of  his  sons.  They  had  each  of  them  a  good  team,  . 
and  were  all  bound  for  Knoxville.  They  had  been 


24  THE  LIFE  OF 

in  the  habit  of  stopping  at  my  father's  as  they 
passed  the  road,  and  I  knew  them.  I  made  my 
self  known  to  the  old  gentleman,  and  informed 
him  of  my  situation  ;  I  expressed  a  wish  to  get 
back  to  my  father  and  mother,  if  they  could  fix 
any  plan  for  me  to  do  so.  They  told  me  that 
they  would  stay  that  night  at  a  tavern  seven 
miles  from  there,  and  that  if  I  could  get  to  them 
before  day  the  next  morning,  they  would  take  me 
home  ;  and  if  I  was  pursued,  they  would  protect 
me.  This  was  a  Sunday  evening  j  I  went  back 
to  the  good  old  Dutchman's  house,  and  as  good 
fortune  would  have  it,  he  and  the  family  were  out 
on  a  visit.  I  gathered  my  clothes,  and  what  little 
money  I  had,  and  put  them  all  together  under  the 
head  of  my  bed.  I  went  to  bed  early  that  night, 
but  sleep  seemed  to  be  a  stranger  to  me.  For 
though  I  was  a  wild  boy,  yet  I  dearly  loved  my 
father  and  mother,  and  their  images  appeared  to 
be  so  deeply  fixed  in  my  mind,  that  I  could  not 
sleep  for  thinking  of  them.  And  then  the  fear 
that  when  I  should  attempt  to  go  out,  I  should  be 
discovered  and  called  to  a  halt,  filled  me  with 
anxiety  ;  and  between  my  childish  love  of  home, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  fears  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  on  the  other,  I  felt  mighty  queer. 

But  so  it  was,  about  three  hours  before  day  in 


DAVID  CROCKETT  ^b 

the  morning  I  got  up  to  make  my  start.  When  I 
got  out,  I  found  it  was  snowing  fast,  and  that  the 
snow  was  then  on  the  ground  about  eight  inches 
deep.  I  had  not  even  the  advantage  of  moonlight, 
and  the  whole  sky  was  hid  by  the  falling  snow, 
so  that  I  had  to  guess  at  my  way  to  the  big  road, 
which  was  about  a  half  mile  from  the  house. 
I  however  pushed  ahead  and  soon  got  to  it,  and 
then  pursued  it,  in  the  direction  to  the  waggons. 

I  could  not  have  pursued  the  road  if  I  had  not 
guided  myself  by  the  opening  it  made  between 
the  timber,  as  the  snow  was  too  deep  to  leave  any 
part  of  it  to  be  known  by  either  seeing  or  feeling. 

Before  I  overtook  the  waggons,  the  earth  was 
covered  about  as  deep  as  my  knees  ;  and  my 
tracks  filled  so  briskly  after  me,  that  by  daylight, 
my  Dutch  master  could  have  seen  no  trace  which 
I  left. 

I  got  to  the  place  about  an  hour  before  day.  I 
found  the  waggoners  already  stirring,  and  engaged 
in  feeding  and  preparing  their  horses  for  a  start. 
Mr.  Dunn  took  me  in  and  treated  me  with  great 
kindness.  My  heart  was  more  deeply  impressed 
by  meeting  with  such  a  friend,  and  "  at  such  a 
time,"  than  by  wading  the  snow-storm  by  night, 
or  all  the  other  sufferings  which  my  mind  had 
endured.  I  warmed  myself  by  the  fire,  for  I  was 
C 


26  THE  LIFE  OF 

very  cold,  and  after  an  early  breakfast,  we  set  out 
on  our  journey.  The  thoughts  of  home  now  be 
gan  to  take  the  entire  possession  of  my  mind,  and 
I  almost  numbered  the  sluggish  turns  of  the 
wheels,  and  much  more  certainly  the  miles  of  our 
travel,  which  appeared  to  me  to  count  mighty 
slow.  I  continued  with  my  kind  protectors, 
until  we  got  to  the  house  of  a  Mr.  John  Cole,  on 
Roanoke,  when  my  impatience  became  so  great, 
that  I  determined  to  set  out  on  foot  and  go  ahead 
by  myself,  as  I  could  travel  twice  as  fast  in  that 
way  as  the  waggons  could. 

Mr.  Dunn  seemed  very  sorry  to  part  with  me, 
and  used  many  arguments  to  prevent  me  from 
leaving  him.  But  home,  poor  as  it  was,  again 
rushed  on  my  memory,  and  it  seemed  ten  times 
as  dear  to  me  as  it  ever  had  before.  The  reason 
was,  that  my  parents  were  there,  and  all  that  I 
had  been  accustomed  to  in  the  hours  of  childhood 
and  infancy  was  there  ;  and  there  my  anxious 
little  heart  panted  also  to  be.  We  remained  at 
Mr.  Coles  that  night,  and  early  in  the  morning  I 
felt  that  I  couldn't  stay ;  so,  taking  leave  of  my 
friends  the  waggoners,  I  went  forward  on  foot,  until 
I  was  fortunately  overtaken  by  a  gentleman,  who 
was  returning  from  market,  to  which  he  had  been 
with  a  drove  of  horses.  He  had  a  led  horse,  with 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  27 

a  bridle  and  saddle  on  him,  and  he  kindly  offered 
to  let  me  get  on  his  horse  and  ride  him.  I  did  so, 
and  was  glad  of  the  chance,  for  I  was  tired,  and 
was,  moreover,  near  the  first  crossing  of  Roanoke, 
which  I  would  have  been  compelled  to  wade, 
cold  as  the  water  was,  if  I  had  not  fortunately  met 
this  good  man.  I  travelled  with  him  in  this  way, 
without  any  thing  turning  up  worth  recording, 
until  we  got  within  fifteen  miles  of  my  father's 
house.  There  we  parted,  and  he  went  on  to 
Kentucky  and  I  trudged  on  homeward,  which  place 
I  reached  that  evening.  The  name  of  this  kind 
gentleman  I  have  entirely  forgotten,  and  I  am 
sorry  for  it  ;  for  it  deserves  a  high  place  in  my 
little  book.  A  remembrance  of  his  kindness  to  a 
little  straggling  boy,  and  a  stranger  to  him,  has 
however  a  resting  place  in  my  heart,  and  there  it 
will  remain  as  long  as  I  live. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HAVING  gotten  home,  as  I  have  just  related,  I 
remained  with  my  father  until  the  next  fall,  at 
which  time  he  took  it  into  his  head  to  send  me 
to  a  little  country  school,  which  was  kept  in  the 
neighbourhood  by  a  man  whose  name  was  Ben 
jamin  Kitchen  ;  though  I  believe  he  was  no  way 
connected  with  the  cabinet.  I  went  four  days, 
and  had  just  began  to  learn  my  letters  a  little, 
when  I  had  an  unfortunate  falling  out  with  one 
of  the  scholars, — a  boy  much  larger  and  older 
than  myself.  I  knew  well  enough  that  though 
the  school-house  might  do  for  a  still  hunt,  it 
wouldn't  do  for  a  drive,  and  so  I  concluded  to 
wait  until  I  could  get  him  out,  and  then  I  was 
determined  to  give  him  salt  and  vinegar.  I  waited 
till  in  the  evening,  and  when  the  larger  scholars 
were  spelling,  I  slip'd  out,  and  going  some  distance 
along  his  road,  I  lay  by  the  way-side  in  the 
bushes,  waiting  for  him  to  come  along.  After  a 
while  he  and  his  company  came  on  sure  enough, 


c2 


30  THE  LIFE  OF 

and  1  pitched  out  from  the  bushes  and  set  on 
him  like  a  wild  cat.  I  scratched  his  face  all  to 
a  flitter  jig,  and  soon  made  him  cry  out  for  quar 
ters  in  good  earnest.  The  fight  being  over,  I 
went  on  home,  and  the  next  morning  was  start 
ed  again  to  school  ;  but  do  you  think  I  went  ? 
No,  indeed.  I  was  very  clear  of  it ;  for  I  ex 
pected  the  master  would  lick  me  up,  as  bad  as  I 
had  the  boy.  So,  instead  of  going  to  the  school- 
house,  I  laid  out  in  the  woods  all  day  until  in 
the  evening  the  scholars  were  dismissed,  and  my 
brothers,  who  were  also  going  to  school,  came 
along,  returning  home.  I  wanted  to  conceal  this 
whole  business  from  my  father,  and  I  therefore 
persuaded  them  not  to  tell  on  me,  which  they 
agreed  to. 

Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  several  da3rs  ;  I 
starting  with  them  to  school  in  the  morning,  and 
returning  with  them  in  the  evening,  but  lying  out 
in  the  woods  all  day.  At  last,  however,  the  mas 
ter  wrote  a  note  to  my  father,  inquiring  why  I 
was  not  sent  to  school.  When  he  read  this  note, 
he  called  me  up,  and  I  knew  very  well  that  I  was 
in  a  devil  of  a  hobble,  for  my  father  had  been 
taking  a  few  horns,  and  was  in  a  good  condition  to 
make  the  fur  fly.  He  called  on  me  to  know  why 
I  had  not  been  at  school  ?  I  told  him  I  was 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  31 

afraid  to  go,  and  that  the  master  would  whip  me  ; 
for  I  knew  quite  well  if  I  was  turned  over  to  this 
old  Kitchen,  I  should  be  cooked  up  to  a  cracklin, 
in  little  or  no  time.  But  I  soon  found  that  I  was 
not  to  expect  a  much  better  fate  at  home  ;  for 
my  father  told  me,  in  a  very  angry  manner, 
that  he  would  whip  me  an  eternal  sight  worse 
than  the  master,  if  I  didn't  start  immediately  to 
the  school.  I  tried  again  to  beg  off  j  but  nothing 
"would  do,  but  to  go  to  the  school.  Finding  me 
rather  too  slow  about  starting,  he  gathered  about  a 
two  year  old  hickory,  and  broke  after  me.  I  put 
out  with  all  my  might,  and  soon  we  were  both  up 
to  the  top  of  our  speed.  We  had  a  tolerable  tough 
race  for  about  a  mile  ;  but  mind  me,  not  on  the 
school-house  road,  for  I  was  trying  to  get  as  far 
the  t'other  way  as  possible.  And  I  yet  believe,  if 
my  father  and  the  schoolmaster  could  both  have 
levied  on  me  about  that  time,  I  should  never  have 
been  called  on  to  sit  in  the  councils  of  the  na 
tion,  for  I  think  they  would  have  used  me  up. 
But  fortunately  for  me,  about  this  time,  I  saw  just 
before  me  a  hill,  over  which  I  made  headway, 
like  a  young  steamboat.  As  soon  as  I  had  passed 
over  it,  I  turned  to  one  side,  and  hid  myself  in  the 
bushes.  Here  I  waited  until  the  old  gentleman 
passed  by,  puffing  and  blowing,  as  tho'  his  steam 


32  THE  LIFE  OF 

was  high  enough  to  burst  his  boilers.  I  waited 
until  he  gave  up  the  hunt,  and  passed  back  again  : 
I  then  cut  out,  and  went  to  the  house  of  an  ac 
quaintance  a  few  miles  off,  who  was  just  about  to 
start  with  a  drove.  His  name  was  Jesse  Cheek, 
and  I  hired  myself  to  go  with  him,  determining 
not  to  return  home,  as  home  and  the  school-house 
had  both  become  too  hot  for  me.  I  had  an  elder 
brother,  who  also  hired  to  go  with  the  same  drove. 
We  set  out  and  went  on  through  Abbingdon,  and 
the  county  seat  of  Withe  county,  in  the  state  of 
Virginia  ;  and  then  through  Lynchburgh,  by 
Orange  court-house,  and  Charlottesville,  passing 
through  what  was  called  Chester  Gap,  on  to  a 
town  called  Front  Royal,  where  my  employer  sold 
out  his  drove  to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Vanmetre  ; 
and  I  was  started  homeward  again,  in  company 
with  a  brother  of  the  first  owner  of  the  drove, 
with  one  horse  between  us  ;  having  left  my  bro 
ther  to  come  on  with  the  balance  of  the  com 
pany. 

I  traveled  on  with  my  new  comrade  about  three 
days'  journey  ;  but  much  to  his  discredit,  as  I  then 
thought,  and  still  think,  he  took  care  all  the  time 
to  ride,  but  never  to  tie  ;  at  last  I  told  him  to  go 
ahead,  and  I  would  come  when  I  got  ready.  He 
gave  me  four  dollars  to  bear  my  expenses  up- 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  33 

wards  of  four  hundred  miles,  and  then  cut  out  and 
left  me. 

I    purchased    some    provisions,   and    went   on 
slowly,  until  at  length  I  fell  in  with  a  waggoner, 
with  whom  I  was  disposed  to  scrape  up  a  hasty 
acquaintance.      I  inquired  where   he  lived,  and 
where  he  was  going,  and  all  about  his  affairs.     He 
informed  me  that  he  lived  in  Greenville,  Tennessee, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  a  place  called  Gerardstown, 
fifteen  miles   below  Winchester.     He  also    said, 
that  after   he   should   make  his  journey  to   that 
place,  he  would  immediately  return  to  Tennessee. 
His  name  was  Adam  Myers,  and  a  jolly  good  fel 
low  he  seemed  to  be.     On  a  little  reflection,  I  de 
termined  to  turn  back  and  go  with  him,  which  I 
did  ;  and  we  journeyed  on  slowly  as  waggons  com 
monly  do,  but  merrily  enough.     I  often  thought 
of  home,  and,  indeed,  wished  bad  enough  to  be 
there  ;  but,  when  I  thought  of  the  school-house, 
and   Kitchen,  my  master,  and  the  race  with  my 
father,  and  the  big  hickory  he  carried,  and  of  the 
fierceness  of  the  storm  of  wrath  that  I  had  left 
him  in,  I  was  afraid  to  venture  back  ;  for  I  knew 
my  father's  nature  so  well,  that  I  was  certain  his 
anger  would  hang  on  to  him  like  a  turkle  does  to  a 
fisherman's  toe,  and  that,  if  I  went  back  in  a  hurry, 
he  would  give  me  the  devil  in  three  or  four  ways 


34  THE  LIFE  OF 

But  I  and  the  waggoner  had  traveled  two  days, 
when  we  met  my  brother,  who,  I  before  stated,  I 
had  left  behind  when  the  drove  was  sold  out. 
He  persuaded  me  to  go  home,  but  I  refused.  He 
pressed  me  hard,  and  brought  up  a  great  many 
mighty  strong  arguments  to  induce  me  to  turn 
back  again.  He  pictured  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
my  mother,  and  my  sisters,  who  all  loved  me 
dearly,  and  told  me  what  uneasiness  they  had  al 
ready  suffered  about  me.  I  could  not  help  shedding 
tears,  which  I  did  not  often  do,  and  my  affections 
all  pointed  back  to  those  dearest  friends,  and  as  I 
thought,  nearly  the  only  ones  I  had  in  the  world ; 
but  then  the  promised  whipping — that  was  the 
thing.  It  came  right  slap  down  on  every  thought 
of  home  ;  and  I  finally  determined  that  make  or 
break,  hit  or  miss,  I  would  just  hang  on  to  my 
journey,  and  go  ahead  with  the  waggoner.  My 
brother  was  much  grieved  at  our  parting,  but  he 
went  his  way,  and  so  did  I.  We  went  on  until 
at  last  we  got  to  Gerardstown,  where  the  waggoner 
tried  to  get  a  back  load,  but  he  could  not  without 
going  to  Alexandria.  He  engaged  to  go  there, 
and  I  concluded  that  I  would  wait  until  he  re 
turned.  I  set  in  to  work  for  a  man  by  the  name 
of  John  Gray,  at  twenty-five  cents  per  day.  My 
labour,  however,  was  light,  such  as  ploughing  in 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  35 

some  small  grain,  in  which  I  succeeded  in  pleasing 
the  old  man  very  well.  I  continued  working 
for  him  until  the  waggoner  got  back,  and  for  a 
good  long  time  afterwards,  as  he  continued  to  run 
his  team  back  and  forward,  hauling  to  and  from 
Baltimore.  In  the  next  spring,  from  the  proceeds 
of  my  daily  labour,  small  as  it  was,  I  was  able  to 
get  me  some  decent  clothes,  and  concluded  I 
would  make  a  trip  with  the  waggoner  to  Balti 
more,  and  see  what  sort  of  a  place  that  was,  and 
what  sort  of  folks  lived  there.  I  gave  him  the 
balance  of  what  money  I  had  for  safe  keeping, 
which,  as  well  as  I  recollect,  was  about  seven  dol 
lars.  We  got  on  well  enough  until  we  came  near 
Ellicott's  Mills.  Our  load  consisted  of  flour,  in 
barrels.  Here  I  got  into  the  waggon  for  the  pur 
pose  of  changing  my  clothing,  not  thinking  that  I 
was  in  any  danger  ;  but  while  I  was  in  there  we 
were  met  by  some  wheel-barrow  men,  who  were 
working  on  the  road,  and  the  horses  took  a  scare 
and  away  they  went,  like  they  had  seen  a  ghost. 
They  made  a  sudden  wheel  around,  and  broke  the 
waggon  tongue  slap,  short  off,  as  a  pipe-stem ;  and 
snap  went  both  of  the  axletrees  at  the  same  time, 
and  of  all  devlish  flouncing  about  of  flour  barrels 
that  ever  was  seen,  I  reckon  this  took  the  beat. 
Even  a  rat  would  have  stood  a  bad  chance  in  a 


36  THE  LIFE  OF 

straight  race  among  them,  and  not  much  better 
in  a  crooked  one  ;  for  he  would  have  been  in  a 
good  way  to  be  ground  up  as  fine  as  ginger  by 
their  rolling  over  him.  But  this  proved  to  me, 
that  if  a  fellow  is  born  to  be  hung,  he  will  never 
be  drowned  ;  and,  further,  that  if  he  is  born  for  a 
seat  in  Congress,  even  flour  barrels  can't  make  a 
mash  of  him.  All  these  dangers  I  escaped  unhurt, 
though,  like  most  of  the  office-holders  of  these 
times,  for  a  while  I  was  afraid  to  say  my  soul  was 
my  own  ;  for  I  didn't  know  how  soon  I  should 
be  knocked  into  a  cocked  hat,  and  get  my  walking 
papers  for  another  country. 

We  put  our  load  into  another  waggon,  and  hauled 
ours  to  a  workman's  shop  in  Baltimore,  having 
delivered  the  flour,  and  there  we  intended  to  re 
main  two  or  three  days,  which  time  was  necessary 
to  repair  the  runaway  waggon.  While  I  was 
there,  I  went,  one  day,  down  to  the  wharf,  and 
was  much  delighted  to  see  the  big  ships,  and  their 
sails  all  flying;  for  I  had  never  seen  any  such 
things  before,  and,  indeed,  I  didn't  believe  there 
were  any  such  things  in  all  nature.  After  a  short 
time  my  curiosity  induced  me  to  step  aboard  of 
one,  where  I  was  met  by  the  captain,  who  asked 
me  if  I  didn't  wish  to  take  a  voyage  to  London  ?  I 
told  him  I  did,  for  by  this  time  I  had  become 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  37 

pretty  well  weaned  from  home,  and  I  cared  but 
little  where  I  was,  or  where  I  went,  or  what  be 
come  of  me.  He  said  he  wanted  just  such  a  boy 
as  I  was,  which  I  was  glad  to  hear.  I  told  him  1 
would  go  and  get  my  clothes,  and.  go  with  him. 
He  enquired  about  my  parents,  where  they  lived, 
and  all  about  them.  I  let  him  know  that  they 
lived  in  Tennessee,  many  hundred  miles  off.  We 
soon  agreed  about  my  intended  voyage,  and  I  went 
back  to  my  friend,  the  waggoner,  and  informed 
him  that  I  was  going  to  London,  and  wanted  my 
money  and  my  clothes.  He  refused  to  let  me 
have  either,  and  swore  that  he  would  confine  me, 
and  take  me  back  to  Tennessee.  I  took  it  to  heart 
very  much,  but  he  kept  so  close  and  constant  a 
watch  over  me,  that  I  found  it  impossible  to  es 
cape  from  him,  until  he  had  started  homeward, 
and  made  several  days'  journey  on  the  road.  He 
was,  during  this  time,  very  ill  to  me,  and  threatened 
me  with  his  waggon  whip  on  several  occasions. 
At  length  I  resolved  to  leave  him  at  all  hazards ; 
and  so,  before  day,  one  morning,  I  got  my  clothes 
out  of  his  waggon,  and  cut  out,  on  foot,  without  a 
farthing  of  money  to  bear  my  expenses.  For  all 
other  friends  having  failed,  I  determined  then  to 
throw  myself  on  Providence,  and  see  how  that 
would  use  me*  I  had  gone,  however,  only  a  few 
D 


38  THE  LIFE  OF 

miles  when  I  came  up  with  another  waggoner,  and 
such  was  my  situation,  that  I  felt  more  than  ever 
the  necessity  of  endeavouring  to  find  a  friend.  I 
therefore  concluded  I  would  seek  for  one  in  him. 
He  was  going  westwardly,  and  very  kindly  en 
quired  of  me  where  I  was  travelling  ?  My  youth 
ful  resolution,  which  had  brooked  ajmost  every 
thing  else,  rather  gave  way  at  this  enquiry ;  for  it 
brought  the  loneliness  of  my  situation,  and  every 
thing  else  that  was  calculated  to  oppress  me,  di 
rectly  to  view.  My  first  answer  to  his  question 
was  in  a  sprinkle  of  tears,  for  if  the  world  had 
been  given  to  me,  I  could  not,  at  that  moment, 
have  helped  crying.  As  soon  as  the  storm  of 
feeling  was  over,  I  told  him  how  I  had  been  treated 
by  the  waggoner  but  a  little  before,  who  kept  what 
little  money  I  had,  and  left  me  without  a  copper 
to  buy  even  a  morsel  of  food. 

He  became  exceedingly  angry,  and  swore  that 
he  would  make  the  other  waggoner  give  up  my 
money,  pronouncing  him  a  scoundrel,  and  many 
other  hard  names.  I  told  him  I  was  afraid  to  see 
him,  for  he  had  threatened  me  with  his  waggon 
whip,  and  I  believed  he  would  injure  me.  But 
my  new  friend  was  a  very  large,  stout-looking 
man,  and  as  resolute  as  a  tiger.  He  bid  me 
not  to  be  afraid,  still  swearing  he  would  have 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  39 

my  money,  or  whip  it  out  of  the  wretch    who 
had  it. 

We  turned   and  went  back    about  two  miles, 
when  we  reached  the  place  where  he  was.    I  went 
reluctantly  ;  but  I  depended  on  my  friend  for  pro 
tection.     When  we  got  there,  I  had  but  little  to 
say  ;   but  approaching  the  waggoner,  my  friend 
said  to  him,  "  You  damn'd  rascal,  you  have  treated 
this  boy  badly."     To  which  he  replied,  it  was  my 
fault.     He    was  then    asked,   if  he    did    not   get 
seven  dollars  of  my  money,  which  he  confessed. 
It  was  then  demanded  of  him  ;  but  he  declared 
most  solemnly,  that  he  had   not  that  amount  in 
the  world  ;  that  he  had  spent  my  money,  and  in 
tended  paying  it  back  to  me  when  we  got  to  Ten 
nessee.     I  then  felt  reconciled,  and  persuaded  my 
friend   to  let  him  alone,  and  we  returned  to  his 
waggon,  geared  up,  and  started.     His  name  I  shall 
never   forget    while    my   memory  lasts  ;    it  was 
Henry  Myers.     He  lived   in  Pennsylvania,  and 
I  found  him  what  he  pryfessed  to  be,  a  faithful 
friend  and  a  clever  fellow. 

We  traveled  together  for  several  days,  but  at 
length  I  concluded  to  endeavour  to  make  my  way 
homeward  ;  and  for  that  purpose  set  out  again  on 
foot,  and  alone.  But  one  thing  I  must  not  omit. 
The  last  night  I  staid  with  Mr.  Myers,  was  at  a 


40  THE  LIFE   OP 

place  where  several  other  waggoners  also  staid. 
He  told  them,  before  we  parted,  that  I  was  a  poor 
little  straggling  boy,  and  how  I  had  been  treated  ; 
and  that  I  was  without  money,  though  I  had  a 
long  journey  before  me,  through  a  land  of  stran 
gers,  where  it  was  not  even  a  wilderness. 

They  were  good  enough  to  contribute  a  sort  of 
money-purse,  and  presented  me  with  three  dol 
lars.  On  this  amount  I  travelled  as  far  as  Mont 
gomery  court-house,  in  the  state  of  Virginia, 
where  it  gave  out.  I  set  in  to  work  for  a  man  by 
the  name  of  James  Caldwell,  a  month,  for  five 
dollars,  wrhich  was  about  a  shilling  a  day.  When 
this  time  was  out,  I  bound  myself  to  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Elijah  Griffith,  by  trade  a  hatter,  agree 
ing  to  work  for  him  four  years.  I  remained  with 
him  about  eighteen  months,  when  he  found  him 
self  so  involved  in  debt,  that  he  broke  up,  and 
left  the  country.  For  this  time  I  had  received 
nothing,  and  was,  of  course,  left  without  money, 
and  with  but  very  few  clothes,  and  them  very 
indifferent  ones.  I,  however,  set  in  again,  and 
worked  about  as  I  could  catch  employment,  until 
I  got  a  little  money,  and  some  clothing  ;  and  once 
more  cut  out  for  home.  When  I  reached  New 
River,  at  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream,  called  Little 
River,  the  white  caps  were  flying  so, that  I  couldn't 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  41 

get     any     body    to     attempt  to  put  me  across. 
I   argued  the  case  as  well   as   I   could,  but  they 
told  me  there  was  great  danger  of  being  capsized, 
and  drowned,  if  I  attempted  to  cross.    I  told  them 
if  I   could  get  a  canoe  I  would  venture,  caps  or 
no  caps.     They  tried  to  persuade  me  out  of  it ; 
but  finding  they  could  not,  they  agreed  I  might 
take  a  canoe,  and  so  I  did,  and    put  off.     I  tied 
my  clothes  to  the  rope  of  the  canoe,  to  have  them 
safe,  whatever  might  happen.     But  I  found  it  a 
mighty  ticklish  business,  I  tell  you.     When  I  got 
out  fairly  on  the  river,  I  would  have  given  the 
world,   if  it  had   belonged  to   me,  to  have  been 
back  on  shore.     But  there  was  no  time  to  lose 
now,  so  I  just  determined  to  do  the  best  I  could, 
and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost     I  turned  the 
canoe  across  the  waves,  to  do  which,  I  had  to  turn 
it  nearly  up  the  river,  as  the  wind  came  from  that 
way;  and  I  went  about  two  miles  before  I  could 
land.     When  I  struck  land,  my  canoe  was  about 
half  full  of  water,  and  I  was  as  wet  as  a  drowned 
rat.     But  I  was  so  much  rejoiced,  that  I  scarcely 
felt  the  cold,  though  my  clothes  were  frozen  on 
me  ;  and  in  this  situation,  I  had  to  go  above  three 
miles,  before  I  could  find  any  house,  or  fire  to 
warm  at.     I,  however,  made  out  to  get  to  one  at 
last,  and  then  I  thought  I  would  warm  the  inside 
D2 


42  THE  LIFE  OF 

a  little,  as  well  as  the  outside,  that  there  might  be 
no  grumbling. 

So  I  took  "  a  leetle  of  the  creater," — that  warmer 
of  the  cold,  and  cooler  of  the  hot, — and  it  made  me 
feel  so  good  that  I  concluded  it  was  like  the  negro's 
rabbit,  "  good  any  way."  I  passed  on  until  I  ar 
rived  in  Sullivan  county,  in  the  state  of  Tennessee, 
and  there  I  met  with  my  brother,  who  had  gone 
with  me  when  I  started  from  home  with  the  cat 
tle  drove. 

I  staid  with  him  a  few  weeks,  and  then  went  on 
to  my  father's,  which  place  I  .reached  late  in  the 
evening.  Several  waggons  were  there  for  the 
night,  and  considerable  company  about  the  house. 
I  enquired  if  I  could  stay  all  night,  for  I  did  not 
intend  to  make  myself  known,  until  I  saw  whether 
any  of  the  family  would  find  me  out.  I  was  told 
that  I  could  stay,  and  went  in,  but  had  mighty 
little  to  say  to  any  body.  I  had  been  gone  so 
long,  and  had  grown  so  much,  that  the  family  did 
not  at  first  know  me.  And  another,  and  perhaps  a 
stronger  reason  was,  they  had  no  thought  or  ex 
pectation  of  me,  for  th£y  all  had  long  given  me  up 
for  finally  lost. 

After  a  while,  we  were  all  called  to  supper.  I 
went  with  the  rest.  We  had  sat  down  to  the  table 
and  begun  to  eat,  when  my  eldest  sister  recollected 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  43 

me :  she  sprung  up,  ran  and  seized  me  around  the 
neck,  and  exclaimed,  "  Here  is  my  lost  brother." 
My  feelings  at  this  time  it  would  be  vain  and 
foolish  for  me  to  attempt  to  describe.  I  had  often 
thought  I  felt  before,  and  I  suppose  I  had,  but  sure 
I  am,  I  never  had  felt  as  I  then  did.  The  joy  of 
my  sisters  and  my  mother,  and,  indeed,  of  all  the 
family,  was  such  that  it  humbled  me,  and  made 
me  sorry  that  I  hadn't  submitted  to  a  hundred 
whippings,  sooner  than  cause  so  much  affliction  as 
they  had  suffered  on  my  account.  I  found  the 
family  had  never  heard  a  word  of  me  from  the 
time  my  brother  left  me.  I  was  now  almost  fif 
teen  years  old ;  and  my  increased  age  and  size, 
together  with  the  joy  of  my  father,  occasioned  by 
my  unexpected  return,  I  was  sure  would  secure  me 
against  my  long  dreaded  whipping ;  and  so  they 
did.  But  it  will  be  a  source  of  astonishment  to 
many,  who  reflect  that  I  am  now  a  member  of  the 
American  Congress, — the  most  enlightened  body 
of  men  in  the  world, — that  at  so  advanced  an  age, 
the  age  of  fifteen,  I  did  not  know  the  first  letter  in 
the  book. 


CHAPTER  III. 

I  HAD  remained  for  some  short  time  at  home 
with  my  father,  when  he  informed  me  that  he 
owed  a  man,  whose  name  was  Abraham  Wilson, 
the  sum  of  thirty-six  dollars,  and  that  if  I  would 
set  in  and  work  out  the  note,  so  as  to  lift  it  for 
him,  he  would  discharge  me  from  his  service,  and 
I  might  go  free.  I  agreed  to  do  this,  and  went 
immediately  to  the  man  who  held  my  father's 
note,  and  contracted  with  him  to  work  six  months 
for  it.  I  set  in,  and  worked  with  all  my  might, 
not  losing  a  single  day  in  the  six  months.  When 
my  time  was  out,  I  got  my  father's  note,  and  then 
declined  working  with  the  man  any  longer,  though 
he  wanted  to  hire  me  mighty  bad.  The  reason 
was,  it  was  a  place  where  a  heap  of  bad  company 
met  to  drink  and  gamble,  and  I  wanted  to  get 
away  from  them,  for  I  know'd  very  well  if  I  staid 
there,  I  should  get  a  bad  name,  as  nobody  could 
be  respectable  that  would  live  there.  I  therefore 
returned  to  my  father,  and  gave  him  up  his  paper, 


46  THE  LIFE  OF 

which  seemed  to  please  him  mightily,  for  though 
he  was  poor,  he  was  an  honest  man,  and  always 
tried  mighty  hard  to  pay  off  his  dehts. 

I  next  went  to  the  house  of  an  honest  old  Qua 
ker,  by  the  name  of  John  Kennedy,  who  had  re 
moved  from  North  Carolina,  and  proposed  to 
hire  myself  to  him,  at  two  shillings  a  day.  He 
agreed  to  take  me  a  week  on  trial ;  at  the  end  of 
which  he  appeared  pleased  with  my  work,  and  in 
formed  me  that  he  held  a  note  on  my  father  for 
forty  dollars,  and  that  he  would  give  me  that  note 
if  I  would  work  for  him  six  months.  I  was  cer 
tain  enough  that  I  should  never  get  any  part  of  the 
note ;  but  then  I  remembered  it  was  my  father 
that  owed  it,  and  I  concluded  it  was  my  duty  as 
a  child  to  help  him  along,  and  ease  his  lot  as  much 
as  I  could.  I  told  the  Quaker  I  would  take  him 
up  at  his  offer,  and  immediately  went  to  work. 
I  never  visited  my  father's  house  during  the 
whole  time  of  this  engagement,  though  he  lived 
only  fifteen  miles  off.  But  when  it  was  finished, 
and  I  had  got  the  note,  I  borrowed  one  of  my  em 
ployer's  horses,  and,  on  a  Sunday  evening,  went  to 
pay  my  parents  a  visit.  Some  time  after  I  got 
there,  I  pulled  out  the  note  and  handed  it  to  my 
father,  who  supposed  Mr.  Kennedy  had  sent  it  for 
collection.  The  old  man  looked  mighty  sorry, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  47 

and  said  to  me  he  had  not  the  money  to  pay  it, 
and  didn't  know  what  he  should  do.  I  then  told 
him  I  had  paid  it  for  him,  and  it  was  then  his  own  ; 
that  it  was  not  presented  for  collection,  but  as  a 
present  from  me.  At  this,  he  shed  a  heap  of 
tears ;  and  as  soon  as  he  got  a  little  over  it,  he  said 
he  was  sorry  he  couldn't  give  me  any  thing,  but 
he  was  not  able,  he  was  too  poor. 

The  next  day,  I  went  back  to  my  old  friend, 
the  Quaker,  and  set  in  to  work  for  him  for  some 
clothes;  for  I  had  now  worked  a  year  without 
getting  any  money  at  all,  and  my  clothes  were 
nearly  all  worn  out,  and  what  few  I  had  left 
were  mighty  indifferent.  I  worked  in  this  way 
for  about  two  months ;  and  in  that  time  a  young 
woman  from  North  Carolina,  who  was  the  Qua 
ker's  niece,  came  on  a  visit  to  his  house.  And 
now  I  am  just  getting  on  a  part  of  my  history  that 
I  know  I  never  can  forget.  For  though  I  have 
heard  people  talk  about  hard  loving,  yet  I  reckon 
no  poor  devil  in  this  world  was  ever  cursed  with 
such  hard  love  as  mine  has  always  been,  when  it 
came  on  me.  I  soon  found  myself  head  over 
heels  in  love  with  this  girl,  whose  name  the  public 
could  make  no  use  of ;  and  I  thought  that  if  all 
the  hills  about  there  were  pure  chink,  and  all  be- 


48  THE  LIFE  OF 

longed  to  me,  I  would  give  them  if  I  could  just 
talk  to  her  as  I  wanted  to ;  but  I  was  afraid  to 
begin,  for  when  I  would  think  of  saying  any  thing 
to  her,  my  heart  would  begin  to  flutter  like  a  duck 
in  a  puddle;  and  if  I  tried  to  outdo  it  and  speak,  it 
would  get  right  smack  up  in  my  throat,  and  choak 
me  like  a  cold  potatoe.  It  bore  on  my  mind  in 
this  way,  till  at  last  I  concluded  I  must  die  if  I  didn't 
broach  the  subject;  and  so  I  determined  to  begin 
and  hang  on  a  trying  to  speak,  till  my  heart  would 
get  out  of  my  throat  one  way  or  t'other.  And  so 
one  day  at  it  I  went,  and  after  several  trials  I 
could  say  a  little.  I  told  her  how  well  I  loved 
her  ;  that  she  was  the  darling  object  of  my  soul 
and  body  ;  and  I  must  have  her,  or  else  I  should 
pine  down  to  nothing,  and  just  die  away  with  the 
consumption. 

I  found  my  talk  was  not  disagreeable  to  her  ; 
but  she  was  an  honest  girl,  and  didn't  want  to 
deceive  nobody.  She  told  me  she  was  engaged 
to  her  cousin,  a  son  of  the  old  Quaker.  This  news 
was  worse  to  me  than  war,  pestilence,  or  famine  ; 
but  still  I  knowed  I  could  not  help  myself.  I 
saw  quick  enough  my  cake  was  dough,  and  I 
tried  to  cool  off  as  fast  as  possible  ;  but  I  had 
hardly  safety  pipes  enough,  as  my  love  was  so  hot 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  49 

as  mighty  nigh  to  burst  my  boilers.  But  I  didn't 
press  my  claims  any  more,  seeing  there  was  no 
chance  to  do  any  thing. 

I  began  now  to  think,  that  all  my  misfortunes 
growed  out  of  my  want  of  learning.  I  had  never 
been  to  school  but  four  days,  as  the  reader  has 
already  seen,  and  did  not  yet  know  a  letter. 

I  thought  I  would  try  to  go  to  school  some  ;  and 
as  the  Quaker  had  a  married  son,  who  was  living 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  him,  and  keeping  a 
school,  I  proposed  to  him  that  I  would  go  to 
school  four  days  in  the  week,  and  work  for  him 
the  other  two,  to  pay  my  board  and  schooling. 
He  agreed  I  might  come  on  those  terms  ;  and  so  at 
it  I  went,  learning  and  working  back  and  forwards, 
until  I  had  been  with  him  nigh  on  to  six  months. 
In  this  time  I  learned  to  read  a  little  in  my  primer, 
to  write  my  own  name,  and  to  cypher  some  in 
the  three  first  rules  in  figures.  And  this  was  all 
the  schooling  I  ever  had  in  my  life,  up  to  this 
day.  I  should  have  continued  longer,  if  it  hadn't 
been  that  I  concluded  I  couldn't  do  any  longer 
without  a  wife  ;  and  so  I  cut  out  to  hunt  me  one. 

I  found  a  family  of  very  pretty  little  girls  that 

I  had  known  when  very  young.     They  had  lived 

in    the    same    neighborhood  with  me,  and  I  had 

thought  very  well  of  them.     I  made  an  offer  to 

E     • 


50  THE  LIFE  OF 

one  of  them,  whose  name  is  nobody's  business, 
no  more  than  the  Quaker  girl's  was,  and  I  found 
she  took  it  very  well.     I  still  continued  paying 
my  respects  to  her,  until  I  got  to  love  her  as  bad 
as   I  had  the  Quaker's  niece  ;  and  I  would  have 
agreed  to  fight  a  whole  regiment  of  wild  cats  if 
she  would  only  have  said   she  would  have  me. 
Several  months  passed  in  this  way,  during  all  of 
which  time  she  continued  very  kind  and  friendly. 
At  last,  the  son  of  the  old  Quaker  and  my  first 
girl  had    concluded   to   bring  their   matter  to   a 
close,  and  my  little  queen  and  myself  were  called 
on  to  wait  on  them.     We  went  on  the  day,  and 
performed  our  duty  as  attendants.     This  made  me 
worse  than  ever  ;  and  after  it  was  over,  I  pressed 
my  claim  very  hard  on  her,  but  she  would   still 
give  me  a  sort  of  an  evasive  answer.     However,  I 
gave  her  mighty  little  peace,  till  she  told  me  at 
last  she  would  have  me.     I  thought  this  was  glo 
rification  enough,  even  without  spectacles.     I  was 
then  about  eighteen  years  old.     We  fixed  the  time 
to  be  married  ;  and  I  thought  if  that  day  come,  I 
should  be  the  happiest  man  in  the  created  world, 
or  in  the  moon,  or  any  where  else. 

I  had  by  this  time  got  to  be  mighty  fond  of 
the  rifle,  and  had  bought  a  capital  one.  I  most 
generally  carried  her  with  me  whereever  I  went, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  51 

and  though  I  had  got  hack  to  the  old  Quaker's  to 
live,  who  was  a  very  particular  man,  I  would 
sometimes  slip  out  and  attend  the  shooting 
matches,  where  they  shot  for  beef ;  I  always 
tried,  though,  to  keep  it  a  secret  from  him.  He 
had  at  the  same  time  a  bound  boy  living  with 
him,  who  I  had  gotten  into  almost  as  great  a 
notion  of  the  girls  as  myself.  He  was  about  my 
own  age,  and  was  deeply  smitten  writh  the  sister 
to  my  intended  wife.  I  know'd  it  was  in  vain  to 
try  to  get  the  leave  of  the  old  man  for  my  young 
associate  to  go  with  me  on  any  of  my  courting 
frolics  ;  but  I  thought  I  could  fix  a  plan  to  have 
him  along,  which  would  not  injure  the  Quaker,  as 
we  had  no  notion  that  he  should  ever  know  it. 
We  commonly  slept  up-stairs,  and  at  the  gable 
end  of  the  house  there  was  a  window.-  So  one 
Sunday,  when  the  old  man  and  his  family  were 
all  gone  to  meeting,  we  went  out  and  cut  a  long 
pole,  and,  taking  it  to  the  house,  we  set  it  up  on 
end  in  the  corner,  reaching  up  the  chimney  as 
high  as  the  window.  After  this  we  would  go  up 
stairs  to  bed,  and  then  putting  on  our  Sunday 
clothes,  would  go  out  at  the  window,  and  climb 
down  the  pole,  take  a  horse  apiece,  and  ride  about 
ten  miles  to  where  his  sweetheart  lived,  and  the 
j;irl  I  claimed  as  my  wife.  I  was  always  mighty 


52  THE  LIFE  OF 

careful  to  be  back  before  day,  so  as  to  escape 
being  found  out ;  and  in  this  way  I  continued  my 
attentions  very  closely  until  a  few  days  before  I 
was  to  be  married,  or  at  least  thought  I  was, 
for  I  had  no  fear  that  any  thing  was  about  to  go 
wrong. 

Just  now  I  heard  of  a  shooting-match  in  the 
neighbourhood,  right  between  where  I  lived  and 
my  girl's  house;  and  I  determined  to  kill  two  birds 
with  one  stone, — to  go  to  the  shooting  match  first, 
and  then  to  see  her.  I  therefore  made  the  Quaker 
believe  I  was  going  to  hunt  for  deer,  as  they  were 
pretty  plenty  about  in  those  parts  ;  but,  instead  of 
hunting  them,  I  went  straight  on  to  the  shooting- 
match,  where  I  joined  in  with  a  partner,  and  we 
put  in  several  shots  for  the  beef.  I  was  mighty 
lucky,  and  when  the  match  was  over  I  had  won 
the  whole  beef.  This  was  on  a  Saturday,  and  my 
success  had  put  me  in  the  finest  humour  in  the 
world.  So  I  sold  my  part  of  the  beef  for  five 
dollars  in  the  real  grit,  for  I  believe  that  was 
before  bank-notes  was  invented  ;  at  least,  I  had 
never  heard  of  any.  I  now  started  on  to  ask  for 
my  wife  ;  for,  though  the  next  Thursday  was  our 
wedding  day,  I  had  never  said  a  word  to  her  pa 
rents  about  it.  I  had  always  dreaded  the  under 
taking  so  bad,  that  I  had  put  the  evil  hour  off  as 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  53 

long  as  possible  ;  and,  indeed,  I  calculated  they 
knowed  me  so  well,  they  wouldn't  raise  any  ob 
jection  to  having  me  for  their  son-in-law.  I  had 
a  great  deal  better  opinion  of  myself,  I  found, 
than  other  people  had  of  me ;  but  I  moved  on 
with  a  light  heart,  and  my  five  dollars  jingling 
in  my  pocket,  thinking  all  the  time  there  was 
but  few  greater  men  in  the  world  than  myself. 

In  this  flow  of  good  humour  I  went  ahead,  till 
I  got  within  about  two  miles  of  the  place,  when  I 
concluded  I  would  stop  awhile  at  the  house  of  the 
girl's  uncle  ;  where  I  might  enquire  about  the 
family,  and  so  forth,  and  so  on.  I  was  indeed 
just  about  ready  to  consider  her  uncle,  my  uncle  ; 
and  her  affairs,  my  affairs.  When  I  went  in,  tho% 
I  found  her  sister  there.  I  asked  how  all  was  at 
home  ?  In  a  minute  I  found  from  her  countenance 
something  was  wrong.  She  looked  mortified,  and 
didn't  answer  as  quick  as  I  thought  she  ought, 
being  it  was  her  brother-in-law  talking  to  her. 
However,  I  asked  her  again.  She  then  burst  into 
tears,  and  told  me  her  sister  was  going  to  deceive 
me  ;  and  that  she  was  to  be  married  to  another 
man  the  next  day.  This  was  as  sudden  to  me  as 
a  clap  of  thunder  of  a  bright  sunshiny  day.  It 
was  the  cap-stone  of  all  the  afflictions  I  had  ever 
E  2 


54  THE  LIFE  OF 

met  with  ;  and  it  seemed  to  me,  that  it  was  more 
than  any  human  creature  could  endure.     It  struck 
me  perfectly  speechless  for  some  time,  and  made 
me  feel  so  weak,  that  I  thought  I  should  sink 
down.     I  however  recovered  from  my  shock  after 
a  little,  and  rose  and  started  without  any  cere 
mony,  or  even  bidding  any  body  good-bye.     The 
young  woman  followed  me  out  to  the  gate,  and 
entreated  me  to  go  on  to  her  father's,  and  said  she 
would   go  with  me.     She  said  the  young   man, 
who  was  going  to  marry  her  sister,  had  got  his 
license,  and  had  asked  for  her  ;  but  she  assured 
me  her  father  and  mother  both  preferred  me  to 
him  ;  and  that  she  had   no  doubt  but  that,  if  I 
would  go  on,  I  could  break  off  the  match.     But  I 
found    I    could    go    no    further.     My    heart   was 
bruised,  and  my  spirits  were  broken  down  ;  so  I 
bid  her  farewell,  and    turned  my  lonesome  and 
miserable  steps  back  again  homeward,  concluding 
that  I  was  only  born  for  hardships,  misery,  and 
disappointment.     I  now  began  to  think,  that  in 
making  me,  it  was  entirely  forgotten  to  make  my 
mate  ;   that  I  was  born  odd,  and  should  always 
remain  so,  and  that  nobody  would  have  me. 

But   all   these   reflections  did  not   satisfy  my 
mind,  for  I  had  no  peace  day  nor  night  for  several 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  55 

weeks.  My  appetite  failed  me,  and  I  grew  daily 
worse  and  worse.  They  all  thought  I  was  sick  ; 
and  so  I  was.  And  it  was  the  worst  kind  of  sick 
ness, — a  sickness  of  the  heart,  and  all  the  tender 
parts,  produced  by  disappointed  love. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

I  CONTINUED  in  this  down-spirited  situation 
for  a  good  long  time,  until  one  day  I  took  my 
rifle  and  started  a  hunting.  While  out,  I  made  a 
call  at  the  house  of  a  Dutch  widow,  who  had  a 
daughter  that  was  well  enough  as  to  smartness,  but 
she  was  as  ugly  as  a  stone  fence.  She  was,  how 
ever,  quite  talkative,  and  soon  begun^to  laugh  at 
me  about  my  disappointment. 

She  seemed  disposed,  though,  to  comfort  me  as 
much  as  she  could  ;  and,  for  that  purpose,  told 
me  to  keep  in  good  heart,  that  "  there  was  as  good 
fish  in  the  sea  as  had  ever  been  caught  out  of  it" 
I  doubted  this  very  much ;  but  whether  or  not,  I 
was  certain  that  she  was  not  one  of  them,  for  she 
was  so  homely  that  it  almost  give  me  a  pain  in 
the  eyes  to  look  at  her. 

But  I  couldn't  help  thinking,  that  she  had  in 
tended  what  she  had  said  as  a  banter  for  me  to 
court  her !  !  ! — the  last  thing  in  creation  I  could 


58  THE  LIFE  OF 

have  thought  of.  doing.  I  felt  little  inclined  to 
talk  on  the  subject,  it  is  true  ;  but,  to  pass  off  the 
time,  I  told  her  I  thought  I  was  born  odd,  and 
that  no  fellow  to  me  could  be  found.  She  pro 
tested  against  this,  and  said  if  I  would  come  to 
their  reaping,  which  was  not  far  off,  she  would 
show  me  one  of  the  prettiest  little  girls  there  I 
had  ever  seen.  She  added  that  the  one  who  had 
deceived  me  was  nothing  to  be  compared  with 
her.  I  didn't  believe  a  word  of  all  this,  for  I 
had  thought  that  such  a  piece  of  flesh  and  blood 
as  she  was  had  never  been  manufactured,  and  never 
would  again.  I  agreed  with  her,  though,  that  the 
little  varment  had  treated  me  so  bad,  that  I  ought 
to  forget  her,  and  yet  I  couldn't  do  it  I  con 
cluded  the  best  way  to  accomplish  it  was  to  cut 
out  again,  and  see  if  I  could  find  any  other  that 
would  answer  me ;  and  so  I  told  the  Dutch  girl  I 
would  be  at  the  reaping,  and  would  bring  as  many 
as  I  could  with  me. 

I  employed  my  time  pretty  generally  in  giving 
information  of  it,  as  far  as  I  could,  until  the  day 
came  ;  and  I  then  offered  to  work  for  my  old 
friend,  the  Quaker,  two  days,  if  he  would  let  his 
bound  boy  go  with  me  one  to  the  reaping.  He 
refused,  and  reproved  me  pretty  considerable 
roughly  for  my  proposition  ;  and  said,  if  he  was 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  59 

in  my  place  he  wouldn't  go  ;  that  there  would 
be  a  great  deal  of  bad  company  there  ;  and  that  I 
had  been  so  good  a  boy,  he  would  be  sorry  for  me 
to  get  a  bad  name.  But  I  knowed  my  promise  to 
the  Dutch  girl,  and  I  was  resolved  to  fulfil  it  ;  so 
I  shouldered  my  rifle,  and  started  by  myself. 
When  I  got  to  the  place,  I  found  a  large  company 
of  men  and  women,  and  among  them  an  old  Irish 
woman,  who  had  a  great  deal  to  say.  I  soon  found 
out  from  my  Dutch  girl,  that  this  old  lady  was  the 
mother  of  the  little  girl  she  had  promised  me, 
though  I  had  not  yet  seen  her.  She  was  in  an  out 
house  with  some  other  youngsters,  and  had  not 
yet  made  her  appearance.  Her  mamma,  however, 
was  no  way  bashful.  She  came  up  to  me,  and 
began  to  praise  my  red  cheeks,  and  said  she  had 
a  sweetheart  for  me.  I  had  no  doubt  she  had 
been  told  what  I  come  for,  and  all  about  it.  In 
the  evening  I  was  introduced  to  her  daughter,  and 
I  must  confess,  I  was  plaguy  well  pleased  with 
her  from  the  word  go.  She  had  a  good  coun 
tenance,  and  was  very  pretty,  and  I  was  full  bent 
on  making  up  an  acquaintance  with  her. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  dancing  commenced, 
and  I  asked  her  to  join  me  in  a  reel.  She  very 
readily  consented  to  do  so  ;  and  after  we  had 
finished  our  dance,  I  took  a  seat  alongside  of 


60  THE  LIFE  OF 

her,  and  entered  into  a  talk.  I  found  her  very 
interesting  ;  while  I  was  setting  by  her,  making 
as  good  a  use  of  my  time  as  I  could,  her  mothei 
came  to  us,  and  very  jocularly  called  me  her  son- 
in-law.  This  rather  confused  me,  but  I  looked  on 
it  as  a  joke  of  the  old  lady,  and  tried  to  turn  it  off 
as  well  as  I  could  ;  but  I  took  care  to  pay  as 
much  attention  to  her  through  the  evening  as  I 
could.  I  went  on  the  old  saying,  of  salting  the 
cow  to  catch  the  calf.  I  soon  become  so  much 
pleased  with  this  little  girl,  that  I  began  to  think 
the  Dutch  girl  had  told  me  the  truth,  when  she 
said  there  was  still  good  fish  in  the  sea. 

We  continued  our  frolic  till  near  day,  when 
we  joined  in  some  plays,  calculated  to  amuse 
youngsters.  I  had  not  often  spent  a  more  agreeable 
night.  In  the  morning,  however,  we  all  had  to 
part ;  and  I  found  my  mind  had  become  much  bet 
ter  reconciled  than  it  had  been  for  a  long  time. 
I  went  home  to  the  Quaker's,  and  made  a  bargain 
to  work  with  his  son  for  a  low-priced  horse.  He 
was  the  first  one  I  had  ever  owned,  and  I  was  to 
work  six  months  for  him.  I  had  been  engaged 
very  closely  five  or  six  weeks,  when  this  little 
girl  run  in  my  mind  so,  that  I  concluded  I  must 
go  and  see  her,  and  find  out  what  sort  of  people 
they  were  at  home.  I  mounted  my  horse  and 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  61 

away  I  went  to  where  she  lived,  and  when  I  got 
there  I  found  her  father  a  very  clever  old  man, 
and  the  old  woman  as  talkative  as  ever.  She 
wanted  badly  to  find  out  all  about  me,  and  as  I 
thought  to  see  how  I  would  do  for  her  girl.  1  had 
not  yet  seen  her  about,  and  I  began  to  feel  some 
anxiety  to  know  where  she  was. 

In  a  short  time,  however,  my  impatience  was 
relieved,  as  she  arrived  at  home  from  a  meeting  to 
which  she  had  been.     There  was  a  young  man 
with  her,  who  I  soon  found  was  disposed  to  set  up 
claim  to  her,  as  he  was  so  attentive  to  her  that  I 
could  hardly  get  to  slip  in  a  word  edgeways.     I 
began  to  think  I  was  barking  up  the  wrong  tree 
again  ;  but  I  was  determined  to  stand  up  to  my 
rack,  fodder  or  no  fodder.      And  so,  to  know  her 
mind  a  little  on  the  subject,  I  began  to  talk  about 
starting,  as  I  knowed  she  would  then  show  some 
sign,  from  which  I  could  understand  which  way 
the  wind   blowed.     It  was  then  near  night,  and 
my  distance  was  fifteen  miles  home.     At  this  my 
little  girl  soon  began  to  indicate  to  the  other  gen 
tleman  that  his  room  would  be  the  better  part  of 
his  company.     At  length  she  left  him,  and  came 
to  me,  and  insisted  mighty  hard  that  I  should  not 
go  that  evening ;  and,  indeed,  from  all  her  actions 
and  the  attempts  she  made  to  get  rid  of  him,  I  saw 


62  THE  LIFE  OF 

that  she  preferred  me  all  holler.  But  it  wasn't 
long  before  I  found  trouble  enough  in  another 
quarter.  Her  mother  was  deeply  enlisted  for  my 
rival,  and  I  had  to  fight  against  her  influence  as 
well  as  his.  But  the  girl  herself  was  the  prize  I 
was  fighting  for  ;  and  as  she  welcomed  me,  I  was 
determined  to  lay  siege  to  her,  let  what  would 
happen.  I  commenced  a  close  courtship,  having 
cornered  her  from  her  old  beau ;  while  he  set  off, 
looking  on,  like  a  poor  man  at  a  country  frolic, 
and  all  the  time  almost  gritting  his  teeth  with 
pure  disappointment.  But  he  didn't  dare  to  at 
tempt  any  thing  more,  for  now  I  had  gotten  a 
start,  and  I  looked  at  him  every  once  in  a  while  as 
fierce  as  a  wild-cat.  I  staid  with  her  until  Mon 
day  morning,  and  then  I  put  out  for  home. 

It  was  about  two  weeks  after  this  that  I  was 
sent  for  to  engage  in  a  wolf  hunt,  where  a  great 
number  of  men  were  to  meet,  with  their  dogs  and 
guns, and  where  the  best  sort  of  sport  was  expected. 
I  went  as  large  as  life,  but  I  had  to  hunt  in  strange 
woods,  and  in  a  part  of  the  country  which  was  very 
thinly  inhabited.  While  I  was  out  it  clouded  up, 
and  I  began  to  get  scared  ;  and  in  a  little  while  I 
was  so  much  so,  that  I  didn't  know  which  way 
home  was,  nor  any  thing  about  it.  I  set  out  the 
way  I  thought  it  was,  but  it  turned  out  with  me, 


DAA'ID  CROCKETT.  63 

as  it  always  does  with  a  lost  man,  I  was  wrong, 
and  took  exactly  the  contrary  direction  from  the 
right  one.  And  for  the  information  of  young 
hunters,  I  will  just  say,  in  this  place,  that  when 
ever  a  fellow  gets  bad  lost,  the  way  home  is  just 
the  way  he  don't  think  it  is.  This  rule  will  hit 
nine  times  out  of  ten.  I  went  ahead,  though,  about 
six  or  seven  miles,  when  I  found  night  was  coming 
on  fast ;  but  at  this  distressing  time  I  saw  a  little 
woman  streaking  it  along  through  the  woods  like  all 
wrath,  and  so  I  cut  on  too,  for  I  was  determined 
I  wouldn't  lose  sight  of  her  that  night  any  more. 
I  run  on  till  she  saw  me,  and  she  stopped ;  for  she 
was  as  glad  to  see  me  as  I  was  to  see  her,  as  she 
was  lost  as  well  as  me.  When  I  came  up  to  her, 
who  should  she  be  but  my  little  girl,  that  I  had 
been  paying  my  respects  to.  She  had  been  out 
hunting  her  father's  horses,  and  had  missed  her 
way,  and  had  no  knowledge  where  she  was,  or 
how  far  it  was  to  any  house,  or  what  way  would 
take  us  there.  She  had  been  travelling  all  day, 
and  was  mighty  tired ;  and  I  would  have  taken 
her  up,  and  toated  her,  if  H  hadn't  been  that  I 
wanted  her  just  where  I  could  see  her  all  the 
time,  for  I  thought  she  looked  sweeter  than  sugar ; 
and  by  this  time  I  loved  her  almost  well  enough 
to  eat  her. 


64  THE  LIFE  OF 

At  last  I  came  to  a  path,  that  I  knovv'd  must  go 
somewhere,  and  so  we  followed  it,  till  we  came  to 
a  house,  at  about  dark.  Here  we  staid  all  night.  I 
set  up  all  night  courting  ;  and  in  the  morning 
we  parted.  She  went  to  her  home,  from  which 
we  were  distant  about  seven  miles,  and  I  to  mine, 
which  was  ten  miles  off. 

I  now  turned   in  to  work  again  ;    and   it  was 
about  four  weeks  before  I  went  back  to  see  her.    I 
continued  to  go  occasionally,  until  I  had  worked 
long  enough  to  pay  for  my  horse,  by  putting  in 
my  gun  with  my  work,  to  the  man  I  had  pur 
chased  from  ;  and  then  I  began  to  count  whether 
I  was  to  be  deceived  again  or  not.     At  our  next 
meeting  we  set  the  day  for  our  wedding  ;  and  I 
went  to  my  father's,  and  made  arrangements  for  an 
infair,  and  returned   to  ask  her  parents  for  her. 
When  I   got  there,  the  old  lady  appeared  to  be 
mighty  wrathy  ;  and  when  I  broached  the  subject, 
she  looked  at  me  as  savage  as  a  meat  axe.     The 
old  man  appeared  quite  willing,  and  treated  me 
very  clever.     But  I  hadn't  been  there  long,  be 
fore  the  old  woman  as  good  as  ordered  me  out  of 
her  house.     I  thought  I  would  put  her  in  mind  of 
old  times,  and  see  how  that  would  go  with  her.    I 
told  her  she  had  called  me  her  son-in-law  before  I 
had    attempted   to   call    her    my   mother-in-law 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  65 

and  I  thought  she  ought,  to  cool  off.  But  her 
Irish  was  up  too  high  to  do  any  thing  with  her, 
and  so  I  quit  trying.  All  1  cared  for  was,  to  have 
her  daughter  on  my  side,  which  I  knowed  was 
the  case  then  ;  but  how  soon  some  other  fellow 
might  knock  my  nose  out  of  joint  again,  I  couldn't 
tell.  I  however  felt  rather  insulted  at  the  old 
lady,  and  I  thought  I  wouldn't  get  married  in  her 
house.  And  so  I  told  her  girl,  that  I  would  come 
the  next  Thursday,  and  bring  a  horse,  bridle,  and 
saddle  for  her,  and  she  must  be  ready  to  go.  Her 
mother  declared  I  shouldn't  have  her  ;  but  I 
know'd  I  should,  if  somebody  else  didn't  get  her 
before  Thursday.  I  then  started,  bidding  them 
good  day,  and  went  by  the  house  of  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  who  lived  on  the  way  to  my  father's,  and 
made  a  bargain  with  him  to  marry  me. 

When  Thursday  came,  all  necessary  arrange 
ments  were  made  at  my  father's  to  receive  my 
wife  ;  and  so  I  took  my  eldest  brother  and  his 
wife,  and  another  brother,  and  a  single  sister 
that  I  had,  and  two  other  young  men  with  me, 
and  cut  out  to  her  father's  house  to  get  her.  We 
went  on,  until  we  got  within  two  miles  of  the 
place,  where  we  met  a  large  company  that  had 
heard  of  the  wedding,  and  were  waiting.  Some 
of  that  company  went  on  with  my  brother  and  sis- 


66  THE  LIFE  OF 

ter,  and  the  young  man  I  had  picked  out  to  wait 
on  me.  When  they  got  there,  they  found  the  old 
lady  as  wrathy  as  ever.  However  the  old  man 
filled  their  bottle,  and  the  young  men  returned  in 
a  hurry.  I  then  went  on  with  my  company,  and 
when  I  arrived  I  never  pretended  to  dismount  from 
my  horse,  but  rode  up  to  the  door,  and  asked  the 
girl  if  she  was  ready  ;  and  she  said  she  was.  I 
then  told  her  to  light  on  the  horse  I  was  leading  ; 
and  she  did  so.  Her  father,  though,  had  gone  out 
to  the  gate,  and  when  I  started  he  commenced 
persuading  me  to  stay  and  marry  there  j  that  he 
was  entirely  willing  to  the  match,  and  that  his 
wife,  like  most  women,  had  entirely  too  much 
tongue  ;  but  that  I  oughtn't  to  mind  her.  I  told 
him  if  she  would  ask  me  to  stay  and  marry  at  her 
house,  I  would  do  so.  With  that  he  sent  for  her, 
and  after  they  had  talked  for  some  time  out  by 
themselves,  she  came  to  me  and  looked  at  me 
mighty  good,  and  asked  my  pardon  for  what  she 
had  said,  and  invited  me  stay.  She  said  it  was  the 
first  child  she  had  ever  had  to  marry  ;  and  she 
couldn't  bear  to  see  her  go  off  in  that  way  ;  that 
if  I  would  light,  she  would  do  the  best  she  could 
for  us.  I  couldn't  stand  every  thing,  and  so  I 
agreed,  and  we  got  down,  and  went  in.  I  sent  off 
then  for  my  parson,  and  got  married  in  a  short 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  (37 

time  ;  for  I  was  afraid  to  wait  long,  for  fear  of 
another  defeat.  We  had  as  good  treatment  as 
could  be  expected  ;  and  that  night  all  went  on 
well.  The  next  day  we  cut  out  for  my  father's, 
where  we  met  a  large  company  of  people,  that  had 
been  waiting  a  day  and  a  night  for  our  arrival.  We 
passed  the  time  quite  merrily,  until  the  company 
broke  up  ;  and  having  gotten  my  wife,  I  thought  I 
was  completely  made  up,  and  needed  nothing 
more  in  the  whole  world.  But  I  soon  found  this 
was  all  a  mistake — for  now  having  a  wife,  1 
wanted  every  thing  else  ;  and,  worse  than  all,  I  had 
nothing  to  give  for  it. 

I  remained  a  few  days  at  my  father's,  and  then 
went  back  to  my  new  father-in-law's  ;  where,  to 
my  surprise,  I  found  my  old  Irish  mother  in  the 
finest  humour  in  the  world. 

She  gave  us  two  likely  cows  and  calves,  which, 
though  it  was  a  small  marriage-portion,  was  still 
better  than  I  had  expected,  and,  indeed,  it  was 
about  all  I  ever  got.  I  rented  a  small  farm  and 
cabin,  and  went  to  work  ;  but  I  had  much  trouble 
to  find  out  a  plan  to  get  any  thing  to  put  in  my 
house.  At  this  time,  my  good  old  friend  the 
Quaker  came  forward  to  my  assistance,  and  gave 
me  an  order  to  a  store  for  fifteen  dollars'  worth  of 
such  things  as  my  little  wife  might  choose.  With 


68  THE  LIFE  OF 

this,  we  fixed  up  pretty  grand,  as  we  thought,  and 
allowed  to  get  on  very  well.  My  wife  had  a  good 
wheel,  and  knowed  exactly  how  to  use  it.  She 
was  also  a  good  weaver,  as  most  of  the  Irish  are, 
whether  men  or  women ;  and  being  very  indus 
trious  with  her  wheel,  she  had,  in  little  or  no  time, 
a  fine  web  of  cloth,  ready  to  make  up  ;  and  she 
was  good  at  that  too,  and  at  almost  any  thing  else 
that  a  woman  could  do. 

.  We  worked  on  for  some  years,  renting  ground, 
and  paying  high  rent,  until  I  found  it  wan't 
the  thing  it  was  cracked  up  to  be  ;  and  that 
I  couldn't  make  a  fortune  at  it  just  at  all.  So  I 
concluded  to  quit  it,  and  cut  out  for  some  new 
country.  In  this  time  we  had  two  sons,  and  I 
found  I  was  better  at  increasing  my  family  than 
my  fortune.  It  was  therefore  the  more  necessary 
that  I  should  hunt  some  better  place  to  get  along ; 
and  as  I  knowed  I  would  have  to  move  at  some 
time,  I  thought  it  was  better  to  do  it  before  my 
family  got  too  large,  that  I  might  have  less  to 
carry. 

The  Duck  and  Elk  river  country  was  just  be 
ginning  to  settle,  and  I  determined  to  try  that. 
I  had  now  one  old  horse,  and  a  couple  of  two 
year  old  colts.  They  were  both  broke  to  the 
halter,  and  my  father-in-law  proposed,  that,  if  I 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  69 

went,  he  would  go  with  me,  and  take  one  horse  to 
help  me  move.  So  we  all  fixed  up,  and  I  packed  my 
two  colts  with  as  many  of  my  things  as  they  could 
bear  ;  and  away  we  went  across  the  mountains. 
We  got  on  well  enough,  and  arrived  safely  in 
Lincoln  county,  on  the  head  of  the  Mulberry  fork 
of  Elk  river.  I  found  this  a  very  rich  country, 
and  so  new,  that  game,  of  different  sorts,  was  very 
plenty.  It  was  here  that  I  began  to  distinguish 
myself  as  a  hunter,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  for 
all  my  future  greatness  ;  but  mighty  little  did  I 
know  of  what  sort  it  was  going  to  be.  Of  deer 
and  smaller  game  I  killed  abundance ;  but  the  bear 
had  been  much  hunted  in  those  parts  before,  and 
were  not  so  plenty  as  I  could  have  wished.  I 
lived  here  in  the  years  1809  and  '10,  to  the  best 
of  my  recollection,  and  then  I  moved  to  Franklin 
county,  and  settled  on  Beans  creek,  where  I  re 
mained  till  after  the  close  of  the  last  war. 


CHAPTER  V. 

I  WAS  living  ten  miles  below  Winchester  when 
the  Creek  war  commenced  ;  and  as  military  men 
are  making  so  much  fuss  in  the  world  at  this  time, 
I  must  give  an  account  of  the  part  I  took  in  the 
defence  of  the  country.  If  it  should  make  me 
president,  why  I  can't  help  it ;  such  things  will 
sometimes  happen  ;  and  my  pluck  is,  never  "  to 
seek,  nor  decline  office." 

It  is  true,  I  had  a  little  rather  not  ;  but  yet,  if 
the  government  can't  get  on  without  taking  another 
president  from  Tennessee,  to  finish  the  work  of 
"  retrenchment  and  reform,"  why,  then,  I  reckon 
I  must  go  in  for  it.  But  I  must  begin  about  the 
war,  and  leave  the  other  matter  for  the  people  to 
begin  on. 

The  Creek  Indians  had  commenced  their  open 
hostilities  by  a  most  bloody  butchery  at  Fort 
Minims.  There  had  been  no  war  among  us  for 
so  long,  that  but  few,  who  were  not  too  old  to 
bear  arms,  knew  any  thing  about  the  business.  I, 


72  THE  LIFE  OF 

for  one,   had    often   thought  about  war,  and  had 
often  heard   it  described  ;  and   I  did  verily   be 
lieve  in  my  own  mind,  that  I  couldn't  fight  in 
that  way  at  all  ;   but  my  after   experience  con 
vinced  me  that  this  was  all  a  notion.     For  when  I 
heard  of  the  mischief  which  was  done  at  the  fort, 
I  instantly  felt  like  going,  and  I  had  none  of  the 
dread  of  dying  that  I  expected  to  feel.     In  a  few 
days  a  general  meeting  of  the  militia  was  called 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  volunteers  ;  and  when 
the  day  arrived  for  that  meeting,  my  wife,  who 
had  heard  me  say  I  meant  to  go  to  the  war,  be 
gan  to  beg  me  not  to  turn  out.     She  said  she  was 
a  stranger  in  the  parts  where  we  lived,  had  no 
connexions  living  near  her,  and  that  she  and  our 
little  children  would  be  left  in  a  lonesome  and 
unhappy  situation  if  I  went  away.     It  was  mighty 
hard  to  go  against  such  arguments  as  these  ;  but 
my  countrymen  had  been  murdered,  and  I  knew 
that  the  next  thing  would  be,  that   the   Indians 
would  be  scalping   the  women    and  children  all 
about  there,  if  we  didn't  put  a  stop  to  it.     I  rea 
soned  the  case  with  her  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
told  her,  that  if  every  man  would  wait  till  his 
wife  got  willing  for  him  to  go  to  war,  there  would 
be  no  fighting  done,  until  we  would  all  be  killed 
in  our  own  houses  ;  that  I  was  as  able  to  go  as 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  73 

any  man  in  the  world  ;  and  that  I  believed  it  was 
a  duty  I  owed  to  my  country.  Whether  she  was 
satisfied  with  this  reasoning  or  not,  she  did  not 
tell  me  ;  but  seeing  I  was  bent  on  it,  all  she  did 
was  to  cry  a  little,  and  turn  about  to  her  work. 
The  truth  is,  my  dander  was  up,  and  nothing  but 
war  could  bring  it  right  again. 

I  went  to  Winchester,  where  the  muster  was  to 
be,  and  a  great  many  people  had  collected,  for 
there  was  as  much  fuss  among  the  people  about 
the  war  as  there  is  now  about  moving  the  de- 
posites.  When  the  men  were  paraded,  a  lawyer 
by  the  name  of  Jones  addressed  us,  and  .closed 
by  turning  out  himself,  and  enquiring,  at  the  same 
time,  who  among  "us  felt  like  we  could  fight  In 
dians  ?  This  was  the  same  Mr.  Jones  who  after 
wards  served  in  Congress,  from  the  state  of  Ten 
nessee.  He  informed  us  he  wished  to  raise  a 
company,  and  that  then  the  men  should  meet  and 
elect  their  own  officers.  I  believe  I  was  about  the 
second  or  third  man  that  step'd  out ;  but  on 
marching  up  and  down  the  regiment  a  few  times, 
we  found  we  had  a  large  company.  We  volun 
teered  for  sixty  days,  as  it  was  supposed  our 
services  would  not  be  longer  wanted.  A  day  or 
two  after  this  we  met  and  elected  Mr.  Jones  our 
captain,  and  also  elected  our  other  officers.  We 
G 


74  THE  LIFE  OF 

then  received  orders  to  start  on  the  next  Monday 
week  ;  before  which  time,  I  had  fixed  as  well  as  I 
could  to  go,  and  my  wife  had  equip'd  me  as  well 
as  she  was  able  for  the  camp.  The  time  arrived  ; 
I  took  a  parting  farewell  of  my  wife  and  my  lit 
tle  boys,  mounted  my  horse,  and  set  sail,  to  join 
my  company.  Expecting  to  be  gone  only  a  short 
time,  1  took  no  more  clothing  with  me  than  I 
supposed  would  be  necessary,  so  that 'if  I  got  into 
an  Indian  battle,  I  might  not  be  pestered  with  any 
unnecessary  plunder,  to  prevent  my  having  a  fair 
shake  with  them.  We  all  met  and  went  ahead, 
till  we  passed  Huntsville,  and  camped  at  a  large 
spring  called  Beaty's  spring.  Here  we  staid  for 
several  days,  in  which  time  the  troops  began  to 
collect  from  all  quarters.  At  last  we  mustered 
about  thirteen  hundred  strong,  all  mounted  volun 
teers,  and  all  determined  to  fight,  judging  from 
myself,  for  I  felt  wolfish  all  over.  I  verily  be 
lieve  the  whole  army  was  of  the  real  grit.  Our 
captain  didn't  want  any  other  sort  ;  and  to  trv 
them  he  several  times  told  his  men,  that  if  any  of 
them  wanted  to  go  back  home,  they  might  do  so 
at  any  time,  before  they  were  regularly  mustered 
into  the  service.  But  he  had  the  honour  to  com 
mand  all  his  men  from  first  to  last,  as  not  one  of 
them  left  him. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  75 

Gen'l.  Jackson  had  not  yet  left  Nashville  with 
his  old  foot  volunteers,  that  had  gone  with  him  to 
Natchez  in  1812,  the  year  before.  While  we  re 
mained  at  the  spring,  a  Major  Gibson  came,  and 
wanted  some  volunteers  to  go  with  him  across  the 
Tennessee  river  and  into  the  Creek  nation,  to  find 
out  the  movements  of  the  Indians.  He  came  to 
my  captain,  and  asked  for  two  of  his  best  woods 
men,  and  such  as  were  best  with  a  rifle.  The  cap 
tain  pointed  me  out  to  him,  and  said  he  would  be 
security  that  I  would  go  as  far  as  the  major  would 
himself,  or  any  other  man.  I  willingly  engaged 
to  go  with  him,  and  asked  him  to  let  me  choose 
my  own  mate  to  go  with  me,  which  he  said  I  might 
do.  I  chose  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  George 
Russell,  a  son  of  old  Major  Russell,  of  Tennessee. 
I  called  him  up,  but  Major  Gibson  said  he  thought 
he  hadn't  beard  enough  to  please  him, — he  want 
ed  men,  and  not  boys.  I  must  confess  I  was  a  lit 
tle  nettled  at  this  ;  for  I  know'd  George  Russell, 
and  I  know'd  there  was  no  mistake  in  him  ;  and 
I  didn't  think  that  courage  ought  to  be  measured 
by  the  beard,  for  fear  a  goat  would  have  the  prefer 
ence  over  a  man.  I  told  the  major  he  was  on  the 
wrong  scent ;  that  Russell  could  go  as  far  as  he 
could,  and  I  must  have  him  along.  He  saw  I  was 
a  little  wrathy,  and  said  I  had  the  best  chance  of 


76  THE  LIFE  OF 

knowing,  and  agreed  that  it  should  be  as  I  wanted 
it.  He  told  us  to  be  ready  early  in  the  morning 
for  a  start ;  and  so  we  were.  We  took  our  camp 
equipage,  mounted  our  horses,  and,  thirteen  in 
number,  including  the  major,  we  cut  out.  We 
went  on,  and  crossed  the  Tennessee  river  at  a 
place  called  Ditto's  Landing  ;  and  then  traveled 
about  seven  miles  further,  and  took  up  camp  for 
the  night.  Here  a  man  by  the  name  of  John. 
Haynes  overtook  us.  He  had  been  an  Indian 
trader  in  that  part  of  the  nation,  and  was  well  ac 
quainted  with  it.  He  went  with  us  as  a  pilot.  The 
next  morning,  however,  Major  Gibson  and  myself 
concluded  we  should  separate  and  take  different 
directions  to  see  what  discoveries  we  could  make ; 
so  he  took  seven  of  the  men,  and  I  five,  making 
thirteen  in  all,  including  myself.  He  was  to  go  by 
the  house  of  a  Cherokee  Indian,  named  Dick 
Brown,  and  I  was  to  go  by  Dick's  father's  j  and 
getting  all  the  information  we  could,  we  were  to 
meet  that  evening  where  the  roads  came  together, 
fifteen  miles  the  other  side  of  Brown's.  At  old 
Mr.  Brown's  I  got  a  half  blood  Cherokee  to  agree 
to  go  with  me,  whose  name  was  Jack  Thomp 
son.  He  was  not  then  ready  to  start,  but  was  to 
fix  that  evening,  and  overtake  us  at  the  fork  road 
where  I  was  to  meet  Major  Gibson.  I  know'd  it 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  77 

wouldn't  be  safe  to  camp  right  at  the  road  ; 
and  so  I  told  Jack,  that  when  he  got  to  the 
fork  he  must  holler  like  an  owl,  and  I  would 
answer  him  in  the  same  way  ;  for  I  know'd 
it  would  be  night  before  he  got  there.  I  and 
my  men  then  started,  and  went  on  to  the 
place  of  meeting,  but  Major  Gibson  was  not  there. 
We  waited  till  almost  dark,  but  still  he  didn't 
come.  We  then  left  the  Indian  trace  a  little  dis 
tance,  and  turning  into  the  head  of  a  hollow,  we 
struck  up  camp.  It  was  about  ten  o'clock  at  night, 
when  I  heard  my  owl,  and  I  answered  him.  Jack 
soon  found  us,  and  we  determined  to  rest  there 
during  the  night.  We  staid  also  next  morning  till 
after  breakfast  :  but  in  vain,  for  the  major  didn't 
still  come. 

I  told  the  men  we  had  set  out  to  hunt  a  fight, 
and  I  wouldn't  go  back  in  that  way  ;  that  we 
must  go  ahead,  and  see  what  the  red  men  were  at. 
We  started,  and  went  to  a  Cherokee  town  about 
twenty  miles  off;  and  after  a  short  stay  there,  we 
pushed  on  to  the  house  of  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Radcliff.  He  was  a  white  man,  but  had  married 
a  Creek  woman,  and  lived  just  in  the  edge  of  the 
Creek  nation.  He  had  two  sons,  large  likely  fel 
lows,  and  a  great  deal  of  potatoes  and  corn,  and, 
indeed,  almost  every  thing  else  to  go  on  ;  so  we 
G2 


78  THE  LIFE  OF 

fed  our  horses  and  got  dinner  with  him,  and 
seemed  to  be  doing  mighty  well.  But  he  was 
bad  scared  all  the  time.  He  told  us  there  had 
been  ten  painted  warriors  at  his  house  only  an 
hour  before,  and  if  we  were  discovered  there,  they 
would  kill  us,  and  his  family  with  us.  I  replied 
to  him,  that  my  business  was  to  hunt  for  just 
such  fellows  as  he  had  described,  and  I  was  de 
termined  not  to  go  back  until  I  had  done  it.  Our 
dinner  being  over,  we  saddled  up  our  horses,  and 
made  ready  to  start.  But  some  of  my  small 
company  I  found  were  disposed  to  return.  I  told 
them,  if  we  were  to  go  back  then,  we  should 
never  hear  the  last  of  it ;  and  I  was  determined 
to  go  ahead.  I  knowed  some  of  them  would  go 
with  me,  and  that  the  rest  were  afraid  to  go  back 
by  themselves ;  and  so  we  pushed  on  to  the  camp 
of  some  of  the  friendly  Creeks,  which  was  dis 
tant  about  eight  miles.  The  moon  was  about  the 
full,  and  the  night  was  clear  ;  wre  therefore  had 
the  benefit  of  her  light  from  night  to  morning, 
and  I  knew  if  we  were  placed  in  such  danger  as 
to  make  a  retreat  necessary,  we  could  travel  by 
night  as  wrell  as  in  the  day  time. 

We  had  not  gone  very  far,  when  we  met  two 
negroes,  well  mounted  on  Indian  ponies,  and  each 
with  a  good  rifle.  They  had  been  taken  from 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  79 

their  owners  by  the  Indians,  and  were  running 
away  from  them,  and  trying  to  get  back  to  their 
masters  again.  They  were  brothers,  both  very 
large  and  likely,  and  could  talk  Indian  as  well  as 
English.  One  of  them  I  sent  on  to  Ditto's  Land 
ing,  the  other  I  took  back  with  me.  It  was  after 
dark  when  we  got  to  the  camp,  where  we  found 
about  forty  men,  women,  and  children. 

They  had  bows  and  arrows,  and  I  turned  in  to 
shooting  with  their  boys  by  a  pine  light.  In  this 
way  we  amused  ourselves  very  well  for  a  while ; 
but  at  last  the  negro,  who  had  been  talking  to  the 
Indians,  came  to  me  and  told  me  they  were  very 
much  alarmed,  for  the  "red  sticks,"  as  they  called 
the  war  party  of  the  Creeks,  would  come  and  find 
us  there  ;  and,  if  so,  we  should  all  be  killed.  I 
directed  him  to  tell  them  that  I  would  watch,  and 
if  one  would  come  that  night,  I  would  carry  the 
skin  of  his  head  home  to  make  me  a  mockasin. 
When  he  made  this  communication,  the  Indians 
laughed  aloud.  '  At  about  ten  o'clock  at  night  we 
all  concluded  to  try  to  sleep  a  little ;  but  that  our 
horses  might  be  ready  for  use,  as  the  treasurer  said 
of  the  drafts  on  the  United  States'  bank,  on  cer 
tain  "  contingences,"  we  tied  them  up  with  our 
saddles  on  them,  and  every  thing  to  our  hand,  if 
in  the  night  our  quarters  should  get  uncomfort- 


80  THE  LIFE   OF 

able.  We  lay  down  with  our  guns  in  our  arms, 
and  I  had  just  gotten  into  a  dose  of  sleep,  when  I 
heard  the  sharpest  scream  that  ever  escaped  the 
throat  of  a  human  creature.  It  was  more  like  a 
wrathy  painter  than  any  thing  else.  The  negro 
understood  it,  and  he  sprang  to  me ;  for  tho'  I 
heard  the  noise  well  enough,  yet  I  wasn't  wide 
awake  enough  to  get  up.  So  the  negro  caught 
me,  and  said  the  red  sticks  was  coming.  I  rose 
quicker  then,  and  asked  what  was  the  matter  ? 
Our  negro  had  gone  and  talked  with  the  Indian 
who  had  just  fetched  the  scream,  as  he  come  into 
camp,  and  learned  from  him,  that  the  war  party 
had  been  crossing  the  Coosa  river  all  day  at  the 
Ten  islands  ;  and  were  going  on  to  meet  Jack 
son,  and  this  Indian  had  come  as  a  runner.  This 
news  very  much  alarmed  the  friendly  Indians  in 
camp,  and  they  were  all  off  in  a  few  minutes.  I 
felt  bound  to  make  this  intelligence  known  as 
soon  as  possible  to  the  army  we  had  left  at  the 
landing  ;  and  so  we  all  mounted  our  horses,  and 
put  out  in  a  long  lope  to  make  our  way  back  to 
that  place.  We  were  about  sixty-five  miles  off. 
We  went  on  to  the  same  Cherokee  town  we  had 
visited  on  our  way  out,  having  first  called  at  Rad- 
clifPs,  who  was  off  with  his  family  ;  and  at  the 
the  town  we  found  large  fires  burning,  but  not  a 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  81 

single  Indian  was  to  be  seen.  They  were  all  gone. 
These  circumstances  were  calculated  to  lay  our 
dander  a  little,  as  it  appeared  we  must  be  in  great 
danger  ;  though  we  could  easily  have  licked  any 
force  of  not  more  than  five  to  one.  But  we  ex 
pected  the  whole  nation  would  be  on  us,  and 
against  such  fearful  odds  we  were  not  so  rampant 
for  a  fight. 

We  therefore  staid  only  a  short  time  in  the  light 
of  the  fires  about  the  town,  preferring  the  light  of 
the  moon  and  the  shade  of  the  woods.  We  pushed 
on  till  we  got  again  to  old  Mr.  Brown's,  which 
was  still  about  thirty  miles  from  where  we  had 
left  the  main  army.  When  we  got  there,  the 
chickens  were  just  at  the  first  crowing  for  day. 
We  fed  our  horses,  got  a  morsel  to  eat  ourselves, 
and  again  cut  out.  About  ten  o'clock  inr  t^e 
morning  we  reached  the  camp,  and  I  reported  to 
Col.  Coffee  the  news.  He  didn't  seem  to  mind 
my  report  a  bit,  and  this  raised  my  dander  higher 
than  ever ;  but  I  knowed  I  had  to  be  on  my  best 
behaviour,  and  so  I  kept  it  all  to  myself;  though 
I  was  so  mad  that  I  was  burning  inside  like  a  tar- 
kiln,  and  I  wonder  that  the  smoke  hadn't  been 
pouring  out  of  me  at  all  points. 

Major  Gibson  hadn't  yet  returned,  and  we  all 
began  to  think  he  was  killed  ;  and  that  night  they 


82  THE  LIFE  OF 

put  out  a  double  guard.  The  next  day  the  major 
.  got  in,  and  brought  a  worse  tale  than  I  had,  though 
he  stated  the  same  facts,  so  far  as  I  went.  This 
seemed  to  put  our  colonel  all  in  a  fidget;  and  it 
convinced  me,  clearly,  of  one  of  the  hateful  ways 
of  the  world.  When  I  made  my  report,  it  wasn't 
believed,  because  I  was  no  officer ;  I  was  no  great 
man,  but  just  a  poor  soldier.  But  when  the  same 
thing  was  reported  by  Major  Gibson  !  !  why,  then, 
it  was  all  as  true  as  preaching,  and  the  colonel  be 
lieved  it  every  word. 

He,  therefore,  ordered  breastworks  to  be  thrown 
up,  near  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  and  sent  an  ex 
press  to  Fayetteville,  where  General  Jackson  and 
his  troops  was,  requesting  them  to  push  on  like  the 
very  mischief,  for  fear  we  should  all  be  cooked  up 
to  a  cracklin  before  they  could  get  there.  Old 
Hickory-face  made  a  forced  march  on  getting  the 
news  ;  and  on  the  next  day,  he  and  his  men,  got 
into  camp,  with  their. feet  all  blistered  from  the 
effects  of  their  swift  journey.  The  volunteers, 
therefore,  stood  guard  altogether,  to  let  them  rest. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  Q3 


CHAPTER  VI. 


ABOUT  eight  hundred  of  the  volunteers,  and  of 
thatnumber  I  was  one, were  nowsent  back,  crossing 
the  Tennessee  river,  and  on  through  Huntsville, 
so  as  to  cross  the  river  again  at  another  place, 
and  to  get  on  the  Indians  in  another  direction. 
After  we  passed  Huntsville,  we  struck  on  the 
river  at  the  Muscle  Shoals,  and  at  a  place  on  them 
called  Melton's  Bluff.  This  river  is  here  about 
two  miles  wide,  and  a  rough  bottom  ;  so  much 
so,  indeed,  in  many  places,  as  to  be  dangerous; 
and  in  fording  it  this  time,  we  left  several  of  the 
horses  belonging' to  our  men,  with  their  feet  fast  in 
the  crevices  of  the  rocks.  The  men,  whose  horses 
were  thus  left,  went  ahead  on  foot.  We  pushed 
on  till  we  got  to  what  was  called  the  Black  War 
rior's  town,  which  stood  near  the  very  spot  where 
Tuscaloosa  now  stands,  which  is  the  seat  of  go 
vernment  for  the  state  of  Alabama. 

This  Indian  town  was  a  large  one  ;  but  when 
we  arrived  we  found  the  Indians  had  all  left  it. 


84  THE  LIFE  OF 

There  was  a  large  field  of  corn  standing  out,  and 
a  pretty  good  supply  in  some  cribs.  There  was 
also  a  fine  quantity  of  dried  beans,  which  were 
very  acceptable  to  us  ;  and  without  delay  we  se 
cured  them  aS  well  as  the  corn,  and  then  burned 
the  town  to  ashes  ;  after  which  we  left  the  place. 

In  the  field  where  we  gathered  the  corn  we 
saw  plenty  of  fresh  Indian  tracks,  and  we  had  no 
doubt  they  had  been  scared  off  by  our  arrival. 

We  then  went  on  to  meet  the  main  army  at  the 
fork  road,  where  I  was  first  to  have  met  Major 
Gibson.  We  got  that  evening  as  far  back  as  the 
encampment  we  had  made  the  night  before  we 
reached  the  Black  Warrior's  town,  which  we  had 
just  destroyed.  The  next  day  we  were  entirely 
out  of  meat.  I  went  to  Col.  Coffee,  who  was  then 
in  command  of  us,  and  asked  his  leave  to  hunt  as 
we  marched.  He  gave  me  leave,  but  told  me 
to  take  mighty  good  care  of  myself.  I  turned 
aside  to  hunt,  and  had  not  gone  far  when  I  found 
a  deer  that  had  just  been  killed  and  skinned,  and 
his  flesh  was  still  warm  and  smoking.  From  this 
I  was  sure  that  the  Indian  wTho  had  killed  it  had 
been  gone  only  a  very  few  minutes  ;  and  though  I 
was  never  much  in  favour  of  one  hunter  stealing 
from  another,  yet  meat  was  so  scarce  in  camp,  that 
I  thought  I  must  go  in  for  it.  So  I  just  took  up 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  85 

the  deer  on  my  horse  before  me,  and  carried  it 
on  till  night.  I  could  have  sold  it  for  almost  any 
price  I  would  have  asked  ;  but  this  wasn't  my 
rule,  neither  in  peace  nor  war.  Whenever  I  had 
any  thing,  and  saw  a  fellow  being  suffering,  I  was 
more  anxious  to  relieve  him  than  to  benefit  my 
self.  And  this  is  one  of  the  true  secrets  of  my 
being  a  poor  man  to  this  day.  But  it  is  my  way  ; 
and  while  it  has  often  left  me  with  an  empty  purse, 
which  is  as  near  the  devil  as  any  thing  else  I  have 
seen,  yet  it  has  never  left  my  heart  empty  of  con 
solations  which  money  couldn't  buy, — the  conso 
lations  of  having  sometimes  fed  the  hungry  and 
covered  the  naked. 

I  gave  all  my  deer  away,  except  a  small  part  I 
kept  for  myself,  and  just  sufficient  to  make  a  good 
supper  for  my  mess  ;  for  meat  was  getting  to  be 
a  rarity  to  us  all.  We  had  to  live  mostly  on 
parched  corn.  The  next  day  we  marched  on,  and 
at  night  took  up  camp  near  a  large  cane  brake. 
While  here,  I  told  my  mess  I  would  again  try  for 
some  meat ;  so  I  took  my  rifle  and  cut  out, 
but  hadn't  gone  far,  when  I  discovered  a  large 
gang  of  hogs.  I  shot  one  of  them  down  in  his 
tracks,  and  the  rest  broke  directly  towards  the 
camp.  In  a  few  minutes,  the  guns  began  to  roar, 
as  bad  as  if  the  whole  army  had  been  in  an  In- 
H 


86  THE  LIFE  OF 

dian  battle  ;  and  the  hogs  to  squeal  as  bad  as  the 
pig  did,  when  the  devil  turned  barber.  I  shoul 
dered  my  hog,  and  went  on  to  the  camp  ;  and 
when  I  got  there  I  found  they  had  killed  a  good 
many  of  the  hogs,  and  a  fine  fat  cow  into  the 
bargain,  that  had  broke  out  of  the  cane  brake. 
We  did  very  well  that  night,  and  the  next  morn 
ing  marched  on  to  a  Cherokee  town,  where  our 
officers  stop'd,  and  gave  the  inhabitants  an  order 
on  Uncle  Sam  for  their  cow,  and  the  hogs  we  had 
killed.  The  next  day  we  met  the  main  army, 
having  had,  as  we  thought,  hard  times,  and  a 
plenty  of  them,  though  we  had  yet  seen  hardly 
the  beginning  of  trouble. 

After  our  meeting  we  went  on  to  Radcliff's, 
where  I  had  been  before  while  out  as  a  spy  ;  and 
when  we  got  there,  we  found  he  had  hid  all  his 
provisions.  We  also  got  into  the  secret,  that  he 
was  the  very  rascal  who  had  sent  the  runner  to 
the  Indian  campr  with  the  news  that  the  "red 
sticks"  were  crossing  at  the  Ten  Islands  ;  and 
that  his  object  was  to  scare  me  and  my  men  away, 
and  send  us  back  with  a  false  alarm. 

To  make  some  atonement  for  this,  we  took  the 
old  scroundrell's  two  big  sons  with  us,  and  made 
them  serve  in  the  war. 

We  then  marched  to  a  place,  which  we  called 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  87 

Camp  Wills  ;  and  here  it  was  that  Captain  Cannon 
was  promoted  to  a  colonel,  and  Colonel  Coffee  to 
a  general.  We  then  marched  to  the  Ten  Islands, 
on  the  Coosa  river,  where  we  established  a  fort  ; 
and  our  spy  companies  were  sent  out.  They  soon 
made  prisoners  of  Bob  Catala  and  his  warriors, 
and,  in  a  few  days  afterwards,  we  heard  of  some 
Indians  in  a  town  about  eight  miles  off.  So  we 
mounted  our  horses,  and  put  out  for  that  town, 
under  the  direction  of  two  friendly  Creeks  \ve  had 
taken  for  pilots.  We  had  also  a  Cherokee  colonel, 
Dick  Brown,  and  some  of  his  men  with  us.  When 
we  got  near  the  town  we  divided  ;  one  of  our 
pilots  going  with  each  Division.  And  so  we 
passed  on  each  side  of  the  town,  keeping  near 
to  it,  until  our  lines  met  on  the  far  side.  We 
then  closed  up  at  both  ends,  so  as  to  surround 
it  completely  ;  and  then  we  sent  Captain  Ham 
mond's  company  of  rangers  to  bring  on  the  af 
fray.  He  had  advanced  near  the  town,  when  the 
Indians  saw  him,  and  they  raised  the  yell,  and 
came  running  at  him  like  so  many  red  devils. 
The  main  army  was  now  formed  in  a  hollow 
square  around  the  town,  and  they  pursued  Ham 
mond  till  they  came  in  reach  of  us.  We  then 
gave  them  a  fire,  and  they  returned  it,  and  then 
ran  back  into  their  town.  We  began  to  close  on 


88  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  town  by  making  our  files  closer  and  closer, 
and  the  Indians  soon  saw  they  were  our  pro 
perty.  So  most  of  them  wanted  us  to  take  them 
prisoners  ;  and  their  squaws  and  all  would  run 
and  take  hold  of  any  of  us  they  could,  and  give 
themselves  up.  1  saw  seven  squaws  have  hold 
of  one  man,  which  made  me  think  of  the  Scrip 
tures.  So  I  hollered  out  the  Scriptures  was  ful 
filling  ;  that  there  was  seven  women  holding  to 
one  man's  coat  tail.  But  I  believe  it  was  a  hunt 
ing-shirt  all  the  time.  We  took  them  all  prison 
ers  that  came  out  to  us  in  this  way ;  but  I  saw  some 
warriors  run  into  a  house,  until  I  counted  forty- 
six  of  them.  We  pursued  them  until  we  got  near 
the  house,  when  we  saw  a  squaw  sitting  in  the  door, 
and  she  placed  her  feet  against  the  bow  she  had  in 
her  hand,  and  then  took  an  arrow,  and,  raising  her 
feet,  she  drew  with  all  her  might,  and  let  fly  at  us,  and 
she  killed  a  man,  whose  name,  I  believe,  was  Moore. 
He  was  a  lieutenant,  and  his  death  so  enraged 
us  all,  that  she  was  fired  on,  and  had  at  least 
twenty  balls  blown  through  her.  This  was  the 
first  man  I  ever  saw  killed  with  a  bow  and  ar 
row.  We  now  shot  them  like  dogs  ;  and  then 
set  the  house  on  fire,  and  burned  it  up  with  the 
forty-six  warriors  in  it.  I  recollect  seeing  a 
boy  who  was  shot  down  near  the  house.  His 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  89 

arm  and  thigh  was  broken,  and  he  was  so  near 
the  burning  house  that  the  grease  was  stewing 
out  of  him.  In  this  situation  he  was  still  trying 
to  crawl  along  ;  but  not  a  murmur  escaped  him, 
though  he  was  only  about  twelve  years  old.  So 
sullen  is  the  Indian,  when  his  dander  is  up,  that 
he  had  sooner  die  than  make  a  noise,  or  ask  for 
quarters. 

The  number  that  we  took  prisoners,  being 
added  to  the  number  we  killed,  amounted  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  ;  though  I  don't  remem 
ber  the  exact  number  of  either.  We  had  five 
of  our  men  killed.  We  then  returned  to  our 
camp,  at  which  our  fort  was  erected,  and  known 
by  the  name  of  Fort  Strother.  No  provisions 
had  yet  reached  us,  and  we  had  now  been  for 
several  days  on  half  rations.  However  we  went 
back  to  our  Indian  town  on  the  next  day,  when 
many  of  the  carcasses  of  the  Indians  were  still  to 
be  seen.  They  looked  very  awful,  for  the  burn 
ing  had  not  entirely  consumed  them,  but  given 
them  a  very  terrible  appearance,  at  least  what  re 
mained  of  them.  It  was,  somehow  or  other, 
found  out  that  the  house  had  a  potatoe  cellar  under 
it,  and  an  immediate  examination  was  made,  for 
we  were  all  as  hungry  as  wolves.  We  found  a 
fine  chance  of  potatoes  in  it,  and  hunger  compel- 
H2 


90  THE  LfFE  OF 

led  us  to  eat  them,  though  I  had  a  little  rather  not, 
if  I  could  have  helped  it,  for  the  oil  of  the  Indians 
we  had  burned  up  on  the  day  before  had  run 
down  on  them,  and  they  looked  like  they  had 
been  stewed  with  fat  meat.  We  then  again  re 
turned  to  the  army,  and  remained  there  for  seve 
ral  days  almost  starving,  as  all  our  beef  was  gone. 
We  commenced  eating  the  beef-hides,  and  con 
tinued  to  eat  every  scrap  we  could  lay  our  hands 
on.  At  length  an  Indian  came  to  our  guard  one 
night,  and  hollered,  and  said  he  wanted  to  see 
"  Captain  Jackson."  He  was  conducted  to  the 
general's  markee,  into  which  he  entered,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  we  received  orders  to  prepare  for 
marching. 

In  an  hour  we  were  all  ready,  and  took  up  the 
line  of  march.  We  crossed  the  Coosa  river,  and 
went  on  in  the  direction  to  Fort  Taladega.  When 
we  arrived  near  the  place,  we  met  eleven  hundred 
painted  warriors,  the  very  choice  of  the  Creek  na 
tion.  They  had  encamped  near  the  fort,  and  had 
informed  the  friendly  Indians  who  were  in  it,  that 
if  they  didn't  come  out,  and  fight  with  them 
against  the  whites,  they  would  take  their  fort  and 
all  their  ammunition  and  provision.  The  friendly 
party  asked  three  days  to  consider  of  it,  and  agreed 
that  if  on  the  third  day  they  didn't  come  out 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  9] 

ready  to  fight  with  them,  they  might  take  their 
fort.  Thus  they  put  them  off.  They  then  imme 
diately  started  their  runner  to  General  Jackson, 
and  he  and  the  army  pushed  over,  as  I  have  just 
before  stated. 

The  camp  of  warriors  had  their  spies  out,  and 
discovered  us  coming,  some  time  before  we  got  to 
the  fort.  They  then  went  to  the  friendly  Indians, 
and  told  them  Captain  Jackson  was  coming,  and 
had  a  great  many  fine  horses,  and  blankets,  and 
guns,  and  every  thing  else;  and  if  they  would 
come  out  and  help  to  whip  him,  and  to  take  his 
plunder,  it  should  all  be  divided  with  those  in  the 
fort.  They  promised  that  when  Jackson  came, 
they  would  then  come  out  and  help  to  whip  him. 
It  was  about  an  hour  by  sun  in  the  morning,  when 
we  got  near  the  fort.  We  were  piloted  by  friend 
ly  Indians,  and  divided  as  we  had  done  on  a  former 
occasion,  so  as  to  go  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
fort,  and,  consequently,  of  the  warriors  who  were 
camped  near  it.  Our  lines  marched  on,  as  before, 
till  they  met  in  front,  and  then  closed  in  the  rear, 
forming  again  into  a  hollow  square.  We  then 
sent  on  old  Major  Russell,  with  his  spy  company, 
to  bring  on  the  battle  ;  Capt.  Evans'  company 
went  also.  When  they  got  near  the  fort,  the  top 
of  it  was  lined  with  the  friendly  Indians,  crying 


92  THE  LIFE  OF 

out  as  loud  as  they  could  roar,  "How-dy-do, 
brother,  how-dy-do  ?"  They  kept  this  up  till  Ma 
jor  Russel  had  passed  by  the  fort,  and  was  moving 
on  towards  the  warriors.  They  were  all  painted 
as  red  as  scarlet,  and  were  just  as  naked  as  they 
were  born.  They  had  concealed  themselves  under 
the  bank  of  a  branch,  that  ran  partly  around  the 
fort,  in  the  manner  of  a  half  moon.  Russel  was 
going  right  into  their  circle,  for  he  couldn't  see 
them,  while  the  Indians  on  the  top  of  the  fort  were 
trying  every  plan  to  show  him  his  danger.  But 
he  couldn't  understand  them.  At  last,  two  of 
them  jumped  from  it,  and  ran,  and  took  his  horse 
by  the  bridle,  and  pointing  to  where  they  were, 
told  him  there  were  thousands  of  them  lying  under 
the  bank.  This  brought  them  to  a  halt,  and  about 
this  moment  the  Indians  fired  on  them,  and  came 
rushing  forth  like  a  cloud  of  Egyptian  locusts,  and 
screaming  like  all  the  young  devils  had  been 
turned  loose,  with  the  old  devil  of  all  at  their 
head.  Russel's  company  quit  their  horses,  and 
took  into  the  fort,  and  their  horses  ran  up  to  our 
line,  which  was  then  in  full  view.  The  warriors 
then  came  yelling  on,  meeting  us,  and  continued 
till  they  were  within  shot  of  us,  when  we  fired 
and  killed  a  considerable  number  of  them.  They 
then  broke  like  a  gang  of  steers,  and  ran  across  to 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  93 

our  other  line,  where  they  were  again  fired  on ;  and 
so  we  kept  them  running  from  one  line  to  the 
other,  constantly  under  a  heavy  fire,  until  we  had 
killed  upwards  of  four  hundred  of  them.  They 
fought  with  guns,  and  also  with  their  bows  and 
arrows ;  but  at  length  they  made  their  escape 
through  a  part  of  our  line,  which  was  made  up  of 
drafted  militia,  which  broke  ranks,  and  they  passed. 
We  lost  fifteen  of  our  men,  as  brave  fellows  as 
ever  lived  or  died.  We  buried  them  all  in  one 
grave,  and  started  back  to  our  fort ;  but  before  we 
got  there,  two  more  of  our  men  died  of  wounds 
they  had  received  ;  making  our  total  loss  seven 
teen  good  fellows  in  that  battle. 

We  now  remained  at  the  fort  a  few  days,  but 
no  provision  came  yet,  and  we  were  all  likely  to 
perish.  The  weather  also  began  to  get  very  cold  ; 
and  our  clothes  were  nearly  worn  out,  and  horses 
getting  very  feeble  and  poor.  Our  officers  pro 
posed  to  Gen'l.  Jackson  to  let  us  return  home  and 
get  fresh  horses,  and  fresh  clothing,  so  as  to  be 
better  prepared  for  another  campaign  ;  for  our 
sixty  days  had  long  been  out,  and  that  was  the 
time  we  entered  for. 

But  the  general  took  "  the  responsibility"  on 
himself,  and  refused.  We  were,  however,  deter 
mined  to  go,  as  I  am  to  put  back  the  deposites,  if 


94  THE  LIFE  0. 

I  can.  With  this,  the  general  issued  his  orders 
against  it,  as  he  has  against  the  bank.  But  we 
began  to  fix  for  a  start,  as  provisions  were  too 
scarce  ;  just  as  Clay,  and  Webster,  and  myself  are 
preparing  to  fix  bank  matters,  on  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  money.  The  general  went  and  placed 
his  cannon  on  a  bridge  we  had  to  cross,  and  or 
dered  out  his  regulars  and  drafted  men  to  keep 
us  from  crossing  ;  just  as  he  has  planted  his  Globe 
and  K.  C.  to  alarm  the  bank  men,  while  his  regu 
lars  and  militia  in  Congress  are  to  act  as  artillery 
men.  But  when  the  militia  started  to  guard  the 
bridge,  they  would  holler  back  to  us  to  bring 
their  knapsacks  along  when  we  come,  for  they 
wanted  to  go  as  bad  as  we  did  ;  just  as  many  a 
good  fellow  now  wants  his  political  knapsack 
brought  along,  that  if,  when  we  come  to  vote,  he 
sees  he  has  a  fair  shake  to  go,  he  may  join  in 
and  help  us  to  take  back  the  deposites. 

We  got  ready  and  moved  on  till  we  came  near 
the  bridge,  where  the  general's  men  were  all 
strung  along  on  both  sides,  just  like  the  office 
holders  are  now,  to  keep  us  from  getting  along 
to  the  help  of  the  country  and  the  people.  But 
we  all  had  our  flints  ready  picked,  and  our  guns 
ready  primed,  that  if  we  were  fired  on  we  might 
fight  our  way  through,  or  all  die  together;  just 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  95 

as  we  are  now  determined  to  save  the  coun 
try  from  ready  ruin,  or  to  sink  down  with  it. 
When  we  came  still  nearer  the  bridge  we  heard 
the  guards  cocking  their  guns,  and  we  did  the 
same  ;  just  as  we  have  had  it  in  Congress,  while 
the  "  government"  regulars  and  the  people's  vo 
lunteers  have  all  been  setting  their  political  trig 
gers.  But,  after  all,  we  marched  boldly  on,  and 
not  a  gun  was  fired,  nor  a  life  lost  ;  just  as  I  hope 
it  will  be  again,  that  we  shall  not  be  afraid  of 
the  general's  Globe,  nor  his  K.  C.,  nor  his  regu 
lars,  nor  their  trigger  snapping  ;  but  just  march 
boldly  over  the  executive  bridge,  and  take  the 
deposites  back  where  the  law  placed  them,  and 
where  they  ought  to  be.  When  we  had  passed, 
no  further  attempt  was  made  to  stop  us  ;  but  the 
general  said,  we  were  "  the  damned'st  volunteers 
he  had  ever  seen  in  his  life  ;  that  we  would  vo 
lunteer  and  go  out  and  fight,  and  then  at  our 
pleasure  would  volunteer  and  go  home  again,  in 
spite  of  the  devil."  But  we  went  on  ;  and  near 
Huntsville  we  met  a  reinforcement  who  were 
going  on  to  join  the  army.  It  consisted  of  a  re 
giment  of  volunteers,  and  was  under  the  com 
mand  of  some  one  whose  name  I  can't  remember. 
They  were  sixty-day  volunteers. 

We  got  home  pretty  safely,  and  in  a  short  time 


96  THE  LIFE  OF 

we  had  procured  fresh  horses  and  a  supply  of 
clothing  better  suited  for  the  season  ;  and  then  we 
returned  to  Fort  Deposite,  where  our  officers  held 
a  sort  of  a  "  national  convention"  on  the  subject 
of  a  message  they  had  received  from  General 
Jackson, — demanding  that  on  our  return  we 
should  serve  out  six  months.  We  had  already 
served  three  months  instead  of  two,  which  was 
the  time  we  had  volunteered  for.  On  the  next 
morning  the  officers  reported  to  us  the  conclusions 
they  had  come  to  ;  and  told  us,  if  any  of  us  felt 
bound  to  go  on  and  serve  out  the  six  months,  we 
could  do  so;  but  that  they  intended  to  go  back 
home.  I  knowed  if  I  went  back  home  I  couldn't 
rest,  for  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  be  out ;  and  when  out 
was,  somehow  or  other,  always  delighted  to  be  in 
the  very  thickest  of  the  danger.  A  few  of  us, 
therefore,  determined  to  push  on  and  join  the 
army.  The  number  I  do  not  recollect,  but  it  was 
very  small. 

When  we  got  out  there,  I  joined  Major  RussePs 
company  of  spies.  Before  we  reached  the  place, 
General  Jackson  had  started.  We  went  on  like 
wise,  and  overtook  him  at  a  place  where  we  esta 
blished  a  fort,  called  Fort  Williams,  and  leaving 
men  to  guard  it,  we  went  ahead  ;  intending  to  go 
to  a  place  called  the  Horse-shoe  bend  of  the  Tala- 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  97 

poosa  river.  When  we  came  near  that  place,  we 
began  to  find  Indian  sign  plenty,  and  we  struck 
up  camp  for  the  night.  About  two  hours  before 
day,  we  heard  our  guard  firing,  and  we  were  all 
up  in  little  or  no  time.  We  mended  up  our  camp 
fires,  and  then  fell  back  in  the  dark,  expecting  to 
see  the  Indians  pouring  in ;  and  intending,  when 
they  should  do  so,  to  shoot  them  by  the  light  of 
our  own  fires.  But  it  happened  that  they  did  not 
rush  in  as  we  had  expected,  but  commenced  a  fire  on 
us  as  we  were.  We  were  encamped  in  a  hollow 
square,  and  we  not  only  returned  the  fire,  but 
continued  to  shoot  as  well  as  we  could  in  the 
dark,  till  day  broke,  when  the  Indians  disap 
peared.  The  only  guide  we  had  in  shooting  was 
to  notice  the  flash  of  their  guns,  and  then  shoot  as 
directly  at  the  place  as  we  could  guess. 

In  this  scrape  we  had  four  men  killed,  and  se 
veral  wounded  ;  but  whether  we  killed  any  of 
the  Indians  or  not  we  never  could  tell,  for  it  is 
their  custom  always  to  carry  off  their  dead,  if 
they  can  possibly  do  so.  We  buried  ours,  and 
then  made  a  large  log  heap  over  them,  and  set  it 
on  fire,  so  that  the  place  of  their  deposite  might 
not  be  known  to  the  savages,  who,  we  knew, 
would  seek  for  them,  that  they  might  scalp  them. 

We  made  some  horse  litters  for  our  wounded,  and 

I 


98  THE  LIFE  OF 

took  up  a  retreat.  We  moved  on  till  we  came  to 
a  large  creek  which  wre  had  to  cross  ;  and  about 
half  of  our  men  had  crossed,  when  the  Indians 
commenced  firing  on  our  left  wing,  and  they 
kept  it  up  very  warmly.  We  had  left  Major 
Russel  and  his  brother  at  the  camp  we  had  moved 
from  that  morning,  to  see  what  discovery  they 
could  make  as  to  the  movements  of  the  Indians  ; 
and  about  this  time,  while  a  warm  fire  was  kept 
up  on  our  left,  as  I  have  just  stated,  the  major 
came  up  in  our  rear,  and  was  closely  pursued  by 
a  large  number  of  Indians,  who  immediately 
commenced  a  fire  on  our  artillery  men.  They 
hid  themselves  behind  a  large  log,  and  could  kill 
one  of  our  men  almost  every  shot,  they  being  in 
open  ground  and  exposed.  The  worst  of  all  was, 
two  of  our  colonels  just  at  this  trying  moment 
left  their  men,  and  by  a  forced  march,  crossed 
the  creek  out  of  the  reach  of  the  fire.  Their 
names,  at  this  late  day,  would  do  the  world  no 
good,  and  my  object  is  history  alone,  and  not  the 
slightest  interference  with  character.  An  oppor 
tunity  was  now  afforded  for  Governor  Carroll  to 
distinguish  himself,  and  on  this  occasion  he  did 
so,  by  greater  bravery  than  I  ever  saw  any  other 
man  display.  In  truth,  I  believe,  as  firmly  as  I 
do  that  General  Jackson  is  president,  that  if  it 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  99 

hadn't  been  for  Carroll,  we  should  all  have  been 
genteely  licked  that  time,  for  we  were  in  a  devil 
of  a  fix  ;  part  of  our  men  on  one  side  of  the 
creek,  and  part  on  the  other,  and  the  Indians  all 
the  time  pouring  it  on  us,  as  hot  as  fresh  mustard 
to  a  sore  shin.  I  will  not  say  exactly  that  the  old 
general  was  whip'd  ;  but  I  will  say,  that  if  we  es 
caped  it  at  all,  it  was  like  old  Henry  Snider  going  to 
heaven,"  mita  tarn  tite  squeeze."  I  think  he  would 
confess  himself,  that  he  was  nearer  whip'd  this 
time  than  he  was  at  any  other,  for  I  know  that 
all  the  world  couldn't  make  him  acknowledge  that 
he  was  pointedly  whip'd.  I  know  I  was  mighty 
glad  when  it  was  over,  and  the  savages  quit  us, 
for  I  had  begun  to  think  there  was  one  behind 
every  tree  in  the  woods. 

We  buried  our  dead,  the  number  of  whom  I 
have  also  forgotten  ;  and  again  made  horse  litters 
to  carry  our  wounded,  and  so  we  put  out,  and  re 
turned  to  Fort  Williams,  from  which  place  we  had 
started.  In  the  mean  time,  my  horse  had  got  crip 
pled,  and  was  unfit  for  service,  and  as  another  rein 
forcement  had  arrived,  I  thought  they  could  get 
along  without  me  for  a  short  time;  so  I  got  a  furlough 
and  went  home,  for  we  had  had  hard  times  again 
on  this  hunt,  and  I  began  to  feel  as  though  I  had 


100  THL  LI^E  OF 

done  Indian  fighting  enough  for  one  time.  I  re 
mained  at  home  until  after  the  army  had  returned 
to  the  Horse-shoe  bend,  and  fought  the  battle 
there.  But  not  being  with  them  at  that  time,  ot 
course  no  history  of  that  fight  can  be  expected 
of  me. 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 


^  !    ' 

CHAPTER  VII. 


SOON  after  this,  an  army  was  to  be  raised  to  go 
to  Pensacola,  and  I  determined  to  go  again  with 
them,  for  I  wanted  a  small  taste  of  British  fight 
ing,  and  I  supposed  they  would  be  there. 

Here  again  the  entreaties  of  my  wife  were 
thrown  in  the  way  of  my  going,  but  all  in  vain; 
for  I  always  had  a  way  of  just  going  ahead,  at 
whatever  I  had  a  mind  to.  One  of  my  neigh 
bours,  hearing  I  had  determined  to  go,  came  to 
me,  and  offered  me  a  hundred  dollars  to  go  in 
his  place  as  a  substitute,  as  he  had  been  drafted. 
I  told  him  I  was  better  raised  than  to  hire  myself 
out  to  be  shot  at  ;  but  that  I  would  go,  and  he 
should  go  too,  and  in  that  way  the  government 
would  have  the  services  of  us  both.  But  we 
didn't  call  General  Jackson  "  the  government"  in 
those  days,  though  we  used  to  go  and  fight  un 
der  him  in  the  war. 

I  fixed  up,  and  joined  old  Major  Russel  again ; 
but  we  couldn't  start  with  the  main  army,  but 
12 


102  THE  LIFE  OF 

followed  on,  in  a  little  time,  after  them.  *  In  a 
day  or  two,  we  had  a  hundred  and  thirty  men 
in  our  company;  and  we  went  over  and  crossed 
the  Muscle  Shoals  at  the  same  place  where  I  had 
crossed  when  first  out,  and  when  we  burned  the 
Black  Warriors'  town.  We  passed  through  the 
Choctaw  and  Chickesaw  nations,  on  to  Fort  Ste 
phens,  and  from  thence  to  what  is  called  the 
Cut-off,  at  the  junction  of  the  Tom-Bigby  with 
the  Alabama  river.  This  place  is  near  the  old 
Fort  Mimms,  where  the  Indians  committed  the 
great  butchery  at  the  commencement  of  the  war. 
We  were  here  about  two  days  behind  the  main 
army,  who  had  left  their  horses  at  the  Cut-off, 
and  taken  it  on  foot ;  and  they  did  this  because 
there  was  no  chance  for  forage  between  there 
and  Pensacola.  We  did  the  same,  leaving  men 
enough  to  take  care  of  our  horses,  and  cut  out 
on  foot  for  that  place.  It  was  about  eighty  miles 
off ;  but  in  good  heart  we  shouldered  our  guns, 
blankets,  and  provisions,  and  trudged  merrily  on. 
About  twelve  o'clock  the  second  day,  we  reached 
the  encampment  of  the  main  army,  which  was 
situated  on  a  hill,  overlooking  the  city  of  Pen 
sacola.  My  commander,  Major  Russel,  was  a 
great  favourite  with  Gen'l.  Jackson,  and  our  arri-  ^ 
val  was  hailed  with  great  applause,  though  we 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  103 

were  a  little  after  the  feast ;  for  they  had  taken 
the  town  and  fort  before  we  got  there.  That  even 
ing  we  went  down  into  the  town,  and  could  see 
the  British  fleet  lying  in  sight  of  the  place.  We 
got  some  liquor,  and  took  a  "  horn"  or  so,  and 
went  back  to  the  camp.  We  remained  there  that 
night,  and  in  the  morning  we  marched  back  to 
wards  the  Cut-off.  We  pursued  this  direction  till  we 
reached  old  Fort  Mimms,  where  we  remained  two 
or  three  days.  It  was  here  that  Major  Russel  was 
promoted  from  his  command,  which  was  only  that 
of  a  captain  of  spies,  to  the  command  of  a  major 
in  the  line.  He  had  been  known  long  before  at 
home  as  old  Major  Russel,  and  so  we  all  con 
tinued  to  call  him  in  the  army.  A  Major  Childs, 
from  East  Tennessee,  also  commanded  a  battalion, 
and  his  and  the  one  Russel  was  now  appointed  to 
command,  composed  a  regiment,  which,  by  agree 
ment  with  General  Jackson,  was  to  quit  his  army 
and  go  to  the  south,  to  kill  up  the  Indians  on  the 
Scamby  river. 

General  Jackson  and  the  main  army  set  out 
the  next  morning  for  New  Orleans,  and  a  Colonel 
Blue  took  command  of  the  regiment  which  I 
have  before  described.  We  remained,  however, 
a  few  days  after  the  general's  departure,  and  then 
started  also  on  our  route. 


[04  ^HE  LIFE  °^ 

As  it  gave  rise  to  so  much  war  and  blood 
shed,  it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  give  a  little 
description  of  Fort  Minims,  and  the  manner  in 
which  the  Indian  war  commenced.  The  fort  was 
built  right  in  the  middle  of  a  large  old  field,  and 
in  it  the  people  had  been  forted  so  long  and  so 
quietly,  that  they  didn't  apprehend  any  danger  at 
all,  and  had,  therefore,  become  quite  careless.  A 
small  negro  boy,  whose  business  it  was  to  bring 
up  the  calves  at  milking  time,  had  been  out  for 
that  purpose,  and  on  coming  back,  he  said  he  saw 
a  great  many  Indians.  At  this  the  inhabitants 
took  the  alarm,  and  closed  their  gates  and  placed 
out  their  guards,  which  they  continued  for  a  few 
days.  But  finding  that  no  attack  was  made,  they 
concluded  the  little  negro  had  lied  ;  and  again 
threw  their  gates  open,  and  set  all  their  hands  out 
to  work  their  fields.  The  same  boy  was  out  again 
on  the  same  errand,  when,  returning  in  great 
haste  and  alarm,  he  informed  them  that  he  had 
seen  the  Indians  as  thick  as  trees  in  the  woods. 
He  was  not  believed,  but  was  tucked  up  to  receive 
a  flogging  for  the  supposed  lie  ;  and  was  actually 
getting  badly  licked  at  the  very  moment  when 
the  Indians  came  in  a  troop,  loaded  with  rails, 
with  which  they  stop'd  all  the  port-holes  of  the 
fort  on  one  side  except  the  bastion  j  and  then  they 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  1Q5 

fell  in  to  cutting  down  the  picketing.  Those  in 
side  the  fort  had  only  the  bastion  to  shoot  from, 
as  all  the  other  holes  were  spiked  up ;  and  they 
shot  several  of  the  Indians,  while  engaged  in  cut 
ting.  But  as  fast  as  one  would  fall,  another  would 
seize  up  the  axe  and  chop  away,  until  they  suc 
ceeded  in  cutting  down  enough  of  the  picketing 
to  admit  them  to  enter.  They  then  began  to  rush 
through,  and  continued  until  they  were  all  in. 
They  immediately  commenced  scalping,  without 
regard  to  age  or  sex  ;  having  forced  the  inhabit 
ants  up  to  one  side  of  the  fort,  where  they  carried 
on  the  work  of  death  as  a  butcher  would  in  a 
slaughter  pen. 

The  scene  was  particularly  described  to  me  by 
a  young  man  who  was  in  the  fort  when  it  hap 
pened,  and  subsequently  went  on  with  us  to  Pensa- 
cola.  He  said  that  he  saw  his  father,  and  mother, 
his  four  sisters,  and  the  same  number  of  brothers, 
all  butchered  in  the  most  shocking  manner,  and 
that  he  made  his  escape  by  running  over  the  heads 
of  the  crowd,  who  were  against  the  fort  wall,  to 
the  top  of  the  fort,  and  then  jumping  off,  and 
taking  to  the  woods.  He  was  closely  pursued  by 
several  Indians,  until  he  came  to  a  small  byo, 
across  which  there  was  a  log.  He  knew  the  log 
was  hollow  on  the  under  side,  so  he  slip'd  under 


106  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  log  and  hid  himself.  He  said  he  heard  the 
Indians  walk  over  him  several  times  back  and 
forward.  He  remained,  nevertheless,  still  till 
night,  when  he  came  out,  and  finished  his  escape. 
The  name  of  this  young  man  has  entirely  escaped 
my  recollection,  though  his  tale  greatly  excited 
my  feelings.  But  to  return  to  my  subject.  The 
regiment  marched  from  where  Gen'l.  Jackson  had 
left  us  to  Fort  Montgomery,  which  was  distant 
from  Fort  Mimms  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  and 
there  we  remained  for  some  days. 

Here  we  supplied  ourselves  pretty  well  with 
beef,  by  killing  wild  cattle  which  had  formerly 
belonged  to  the  people  who  perished  in  the  fort, 
but  had  gone  wild  after  their  massacre. 

When  we  marched  from  Fort  Montgomery,  we 
went  some  distance  back  towards  Pensacola  ;  then 
we  turned  to  the  left,  and  passed  through  a  poor 
piny  country,  till  we  reached  the  Scamby  river, 
near  which  we  encamped.  We  had  about  one 
thousand  men,  and  as  a  part  of  that  number,  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  Chickesaw  and  Choctaw 
Indians  with  us.  That  evening  a  boat  landed 
from  Pensacola,  bringing  many  articles  that  were 
both  good  and  necessary  ;  such  as  sugar  and  coffee, 
and  liquors  of  all  kinds.  The  same  evening,  the 
Indians  we  had  along  proposed  to  cross  the  river, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  107 

and  the  officers  thinking  it  might  be  well  for  them 
to  do  so,  consented  ;  and  Major  Russell  went 
with  them,  taking  sixteen  white  men,  of  which 
number  I  was  one.  We  camped  on  the  opposite 
bank  that  night,  and  early  in  the  morning  we  set 
out.  We  had  not  gone  far  before  we  came  to  a 
place  where  the  whole  country  was  covered  with 
water,  and  looked  like  a  sea.  We  didn't  stop  for 
this,  tho',  but  just  put  in  like  so  many  spaniels, 
and  waded  on,  sometimes  up  to  our  armpits,  until 
we  reached  the  pine  hills,  which  made  our  dis 
tance  through  the  water  about  a  mile  and  a  half. 
Here  we  struck  up  a  fire  to  warm  ourselves,  for  it 
was  cold,  and  we  were  chilled  through  by  being 
so  long  in  the  water.  We  again  moved  on,  keep 
ing  our  spies  out ;  two  to  our  left  near  the  bank  of 
the  river,  two  straight  before  us,  and  two  others  on 
our  right.  We  had  gone  in  this  way  about  six  miles 
up  the  river,  when  our  spies  on  the  left  came  to 
us  leaping  the  brush  like  so  many  old  bucks,  and 
informed  us  that  they  had  discovered  a  camp  of 
Creek  Indians,  and  that  we  must  kill  them.  Here 
we  paused  for  a  few  minutes,  and  the  prophets 
pow-wowed  over  their  men  awhile,  and  then  got 
out  their  paint,  and  painted  them,  all  according  to 
their  custom  when  going  into  battle.  They  then 
brought  their  paint  to  old  Major  Russell,  and  said 


108  THE  LIFE  OF 

to  him,  that  as  he  was  an  officer,  he  must  be  paint 
ed  too.  He  agreed,  and  they  painted  him  just  as 
they  had  done  themselves.  We  let  the  Indians 
understand  that  we  white  men  would  first  fire  on 
the  camp,  and  then  fall  back,  so  as  to  give  the  In 
dians  a  chance  to  rush  in  and  scalp  them.  The 
Chickasaws  marched  on  our  left  hand,  and  the 
Choctaws  on  our  right,  and  we  moved  on  till  we 
got  in  hearing  of  the  camp,  where  the  Indians 
were  employed  in  beating  up  what  they  called 
chainy  briar  root.  On  this  they  mostly  sub 
sisted.  On  a  nearer  approach  we  found  they  were 
on  an  island,  and  that  we  could  not  get  to  them. 
While  we  were  chatting  about  this  matter,  we 
heard  some  guns  fired,  and  in  a  very  short  time 
after  a  keen  whoop,  which  satisfied  us,  that  where- 
ever  it  was,  there  was  war  on  a  small  scale.  With 
that  we  all  broke,  like  quarter  horses,  for  the 
firing  ;  and  when  we  got  there  we  found  it  was 
our  two  front  spies,  who  related  to  us  the  following 
story  : — As  they  were  moving  on,  they  had  met 
with  two  Creeks  who  were  out  hunting  their 
horses ;  as  they  approached  each  other,  there  was  a 
large  cluster  of  green  bay  bushes  exactly  between 
them,  so  that  they  were  within  a  few  feet  of  meet 
ing  before  either  was  discovered.  Our  spies 
walked  up  to  them,  and  speaking  in  the  Shawnee 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  1Q9 

tongue,  informed  them  that  General  Jackson  was 
at  Pensacola,  and  they  were  making  their  escape, 
and  wanted  to  know  where  they  could  get  some 
thing  to  eat.  The  Creeks  told  them  that  nine 
miles  up  the  Conaker,  the  river  they  were  then 
on,  there  was  a  large  camp  of  Creeks,  and  they 
had  cattle  and  plenty  to  eat ;  and  further,  that 
their  own  camp  was  on  an  island  about  a  mile  off, 
and  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Conaker.  They 
held  their  conversation  and  struck  up  a  fire,  and 
smoked  together,  and  shook  hands,  and  parted. 
One  of  the  Creeks  had  a  gun,  the  other  had  none  ; 
and  as  soon  as  they  had  parted,  our  Choctaws  turned 
round  and  shot  down  the  one  that  had  the  gun, 
and  the  other  attempted  to  run  off.  They  snapped 
several  times  at  him,  but  the  gun  still  missing  fire, 
they  took  after  him,  and  overtaking  him,  one  of 
them  struck  him  over  the  head  with  his  gun,  and 
followed  up  his  blows  till  he  killed  him. 

The  gun  was  broken  in  the  combat,  and  they 
then  fired  off  the  gun  of  the  Creek  they  had  killed, 
and  raised  the  war-whoop.  When  we  reached 
them,  they  had  cut  off  the  heads  of  both  the  In 
dians  ;  and  each  of  those  Indians  with  us  would 
walk  up  to  one  of  the  heads,  and  taking  his  war 
club  would  strike  on  it.  This  was  done  by  every 
one  of  them  ;  and  when  they  had  got  done,  I  took 
K  " 


THE 

one  of  their  clubs,  and  walked  up  as  they  had 
done,  and  struck  it  on  the  head  also.  At  this  they 
all  gathered  round  me,  and  patting  me  on  the 
shoulder,  would  call  me  "  Warrior — warrior." 

They  scalped  the  heads,  and  then  we  moved  on 
a  short  distance  to  where  we  found  a  trace  leading 

cj 

in  towards  the  river.  We  took  this  trace  and 
pursued  it,  till  we  came  to  where  a  Spaniard  had 
been  killed  and  scalped,  together  with  a  woman, 
who  we  supposed  to  be  his  wife,  and  also  four 
children.  I  began  to  feel  mighty  ticklish  along 
about  this  time,  for  I  knowed  if  there  was  no  dan 
ger  then,  there  had  been  ;  and  I  felt  exactly  like 
there  still  was.  We,  however,  went  on  till  we 
struck  the  river,  and  then  continued  down  it  till 
we  came  opposite  to  the  Indian  camp,  where  we 
found  they  were  still  beating  their  roots. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  evening,  and  they  were 
in  a  thick  cane  brake.  We  had  some  few  friendly 
Creeks  with  us,  who  said  they  could  decoy  them. 
So  we  all  hid  behind  trees  and  logs,  while  the  at 
tempt  was  made.  .  The  Indians  would  not  agree 
that  we  should  fire,  but  pick'd  out  some  of  their 
best  gunners,  and  placed  them  near  the  river. 
Our  Creeks  went  down  to  the  river's  side,  and 
hailed  the  camp  in  the  Creek  language.  We  heard 
an  answer,  and  an  Indian  man  started  down  to- 


DAVID  CROCKETT  ]_]_]_ 

wards  the  river,  but  didn't  come  in  sight.  He 
went  back  and  again  commenced  beating  his  roots, 
and  sent  a  squaw.  She  came  down,  and  talked 
with  our  Creeks  until  dark  came  on.  They  told 
her  they  wanted  her  to  bring  them  a  canoe.  To 
which  she  replied,  that  their  canoe  was  on  our 
side  ;  that  two  of  their  men  had  gone  out  to  hunt 
their  horses  and  hadn't  yet  returned.  They  were 
the  same  two  we  had  killed.  The  canoe  was 
found,  and  forty  of  our  picked  Indian  warriors 
were  crossed  over  to  take  the  camp.  There  was 
at  last  only  one  man  in  it,  and  he  escaped  ;  and 
they  took  two  squaws,  and  ten  children,  but 
killed  none  of  them,  of  course. 

We  had  run  nearly  out  of  provisions,  and  Ma 
jor  Russell  had  determined  to  go  up  the  Conaker 
to  the  camp  we  had  heard  of  from  the  Indians  we 
had  killed.  I  was  one  that  he  selected  to  go  down 
the  river  that  night  for  provisions,  with  the  canoe, 
to  where  we  had  left  our  regiment.  I  took  with 
me  a  man  by  the  name  of  John  Guess,  and  one 
of  the  friendly  Creeks,  and  cut  out.  It  was  very 
dark,  and  the  river  was  so  full  that  it  overflowed 
the  banks  and  the  adjacent  low  bottoms.  This 
rendered  it  very  difficult  to  keep  the  channel,  and 
particularly  as  the  river  was  very  crooked.  At 
about  ten  o'clock  at  night  we  reached  the  camp, 


H2  THE  LIFE  OF 

and  were  to  return  by  morning  to  Major  Russell, 
with  provisions  for  his  trip  up  the  river  ;  but  on 
informing  Colonel  Blue  of  this  arrangement,  he 
vetoed  it  as  quick  as  General  Jackson  did  the 
bank  bill  ;  and  said,  if  Major  Russell  didn't  come 
back  the  next  day,  it  would  be  bad  times  for  him. 
I  found  we  were  not  to  go  up  the  Conaker  to  the 
Indian  camp,  and  a  man  of  my  company  offered  to 
go  up  in  my  place  to  inform  Major  Russell.  I  let 
him  go  ;  and  they  reached  the  major,  as  I  was  told, 
about  sunrise  in  the  morning,  who  immediately 
returned  with  those  who  were  with  him  to  the 
regiment,  and  joined  us  where  we  crossed  the 
r>ver,  as  hereafter  stated. 

The  next  morning  we  all  fixed  up,  and  marched 
down  the  Scamby  to  a  place  called  Miller's  Land 
ing,  where  we  swam  our  horses  across,  and  sent 
on  two  companies  down  on  the  side  of  the  bay 
opposite  to  Pensacola,  where  the  Indians  had  fled 
when  the  main  army  first  marched  to  that  place. 
One  was  the  company  of  Captain  William  Russell, 
a  son  of  the  old  major,  and  the  other  was  com 
manded  by  a  Captain  Trimble.  They  went  on,  and 
had  a  little  skirmish  with  the  Indians.  They  killed 
some,  and  took  all  the  balance  prisoners,  though 
I  don't  remember,  the  numbers.  We  again  met 
those  companies  in  a  day  or  two,  and  sent  the  pri- 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

soners  they  had  taken  on  to  Fort  Montgomery, 
in  charge  of  some  of  our  Indians. 

I  did  hear,  that  after  they  left  us,  the  Indians 
killed  and  scalped  all  the  prisoners,  and  I  never 
heard  the  report  contradicted.  I  cannot  positively 
say  it  was  true,  but  I  think  it  entirely  probable, 
for  it  is  very  much  like  the  Indian  character. 


THE  LIFE  OF  DAVID  CROCKETT.          H5 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

.-.'.jii»  ' r  j/ 

WHEN  we  made  a  move  from  the  point  where 
we  met  the  companies,  we  set  out  for  Chatahachy, 
the  place  for  which  we  had  started  when  we  left 
Fort  Montgomery.  At  the  start  we  had  taken 
only  twenty  days'  rations  of  flour,  and  eight  days' 
rations  of  beef ;  and  it  was  now  thirty-four  days 
before  we  reached  that  place.  We  were,  therefore, 
in  extreme  suffering  for  want  of  something  to  eat, 
and  exhausted  with  our  exposure  and  the  fatigues 
of  our  journey.  I  remember  well,  that  I  had  not 
myself  tasted  bread  but  twice  in  nineteen  days. 
I  had  bought  a  pretty  good  supply  of  coffee  from 
the  boat  that  had  reached  us  from  Pensacola,  on 
the  Scamby,  and  on  that  we  chiefly  subsisted. 
At  length,  one  night  our  spies  came  in,  and  in 
formed  us  they  had  found  Holm's  village  on  the 
Chatahachy  river  ;  and  we  made  an  immediate 
push  for  that  place.  We  traveled  all  night,  ex 
pecting  to  get  something  to  eat  when  we  got 
there.  We  arrived  about  sunrise,  and  near  the 


THE  LIFE  OF 

place  prepared  for  battle.  We  were  all  so  furious, 
that  even  the  certainty  of  a  pretty  hard  fight 
could  not  have  restrained  us.  We  made  a  furious 
charge  on  the  town,  but  to  our  great  mortification 
and  surprise,  there  wasn't  a  human  being  in  it. 
The  Indians  had  all  run  off  and  left  it.  We 
burned  the  town,  however  ;  but,  melancholy  to 
tell,  we  found  no  provision  whatever.  We  then 
turned  about,  and  went  back  to  the  camp  we  had 
left  the  night  before,  as  nearly  starved  as  any  set 
of  poor  fellows  ever  were  in  the  world. 

We  staid  there  only  a  little  while,  when  we 
divided  our  regiment  ;  and  Major  Childs,  with 
his  men,  went  back  the  way  we  had  come  for  a 
considerable  distance,  and  then  turned  to  Baton- 
Rouge,  where  they  joined  General  Jackson  and 
the  main  army  on  their  return  from  Orleans. 
Major  Russell  and  his  men  struck  for  Fort  Decatur, 
on  the  Talapoosa  river.  Some  of  our  friendly 
Indians,  wrho  knew  the  country,  went  on  ahead  of 
us,  as  we  had  no  trail  except  the  one  they  made 
to  follow.  With  them  we  sent  some  of  our  ablest 
horses  and  men,  to  get  us  some  provisions,  to  pre 
vent  us  from  absolutely  starving  to  death.  As 
the  army  marched,  I  hunted  every  day,  and  would 
kill  every  hawk,  bird,  and  squirrel  that  I  could 
find.  Others  did  the  same  ;  and  it  was  a  rule 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

with  us,  that  when  we  stop'd  at  night,  the  hunters 
would  throw  all  they  killed  in  a  pile,  and  then 
we  would  make  a  general  division  among  all  the 
men.  One  evening  I  came  in,  having  killed  no 
thing  that  day.  I  had  a  very  sick  man  in  my 
mess,  and  I  wanted  something  for  him  to  eat,  even 
if  I  starved  myself.  So  I  went  to  the  fire  of  a 
Captain  Cowen,  who  commanded  my  company 
after  the  promotion  of  Major  Russell,  and  informed 
him  that  I  was  on  the  hunt  of  something  for  a 
sick  man  to  eat.  I  knowed  the  captain  was  as 
bad  off  as  the  rest  of  us,  but  I  found  him  broiling 
a  turkey's  gizzard.  He  said  he  had  divided  the 
turkey  out  among  the  sick,  that  Major  Smiley  had 
killed  it,  and  that  nothing  else  had  been  killed 
that  day.  I  immediately  went  to  Smiley's  fire, 
where  I  found  him  broiling  another  gizzard.  I 
told  him,  that  it  was  the  first  turkey  I  had  ever 
seen  have  two  gizzards.  But  so  it  was,  I  got 
nothing  for  my  sick  man.  And  now  seeing  that 
every  fellow  must  shift  for  himself,  I  determined 
that  in  the  morning,  I  would  come  up  missing  ; 
so  I  took  my  mess  and  cut  out  to  go  ahead  of  the 
army.  We  know'd  that  nothing  more  could 
happen  to  us  if  we  went  than  if  we  staid,  for 
it  looked  like  it  was  to  be  starvation  any  way  ; 
we  therefore  determined  to  go  on  the  old  saying, 


THE  LIFE  OF 

root  hog  or  die.  We  passed  two  camps,  at  which 
our  men,  that  had  gone  on  before  us,  had  killed 
Indians.  At  one  they  had  killed  nine,  and  at 
the  other  three.  About  daylight  we  came  to  a 
small  river,  which  I  thought  was  the  Scamby ;  but 
we  continued  on  for  three  days,  killing  little  or 
nothing  to  eat  ;  till,  at  last,  we  all  began  to  get 
nearly  ready  to  give  up  the  ghost,  and  lie  down 
and  die  ;  for  we  had  no  prospect  of  provision,  and 
we  knew  we  couldn't  go  much  further  without  it 

We  came  to  a  large  prairie,  that  was  about  six 
miles  across  it,  and  in  this  I  saw  a  trail  which  I 
knowed  was  made  by  bear,  deer,  and  turkeys. 
We  went  on  through  it  till  we  came  to  a  large 
creek,  and  the  low  grounds  were  all  set  over  with 
wild  rye,  looking  as  green  as  a  wheat  field.  We 
here  made  a  halt,  unsaddled  our  horses,  and  turn 
ed  them  loose  to  graze. 

One  of  my  companions,  a  Mr.  Vanzant,  and  my 
self,  then  went  up  the  low  grounds  to  hunt.  We 
had  gone  some  distance,  finding  nothing  ;  when 
at  last,  I  found  a  squirrel  ;  which  I  shot,  but  he 
got  into  a  hole  in  the  tree.  The  game  was  small, 
but  necessity  is  not  very  particular  ;  so  I  thought 
I  must  have  him,  and  I  climbed  that  tree  thirty 
feet  high,  without  a  limb,  and  pulled  him  out  of 
his  hole.  I  shouldn't  relate  such  small  matters, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  ;Qg 

only  to  show  what  lengths  a  hungry  man  will  go 
to,  to  get  something  to  eat.  I  soon  killed  two 
other  squirrels,  and  fired  at  a  large  hawk.  At 
this  a  large  gang  of  turkeys  rose  from  the  cane 
brake,  and  flew  across  the  creek  to  where  my 
friend  was,  who  had  just  before  crossed  it.  He 
soon  fired  on  a  large  gobler,  and  I  heard  it  fall. 
By  this  time  my  gun  was  loaded  again,  and  I  saw 
one  sitting  on  my  side  of  the  creek,  which  had 
flew  over  when  he  fired ;  so  I  blazed  away,  and 
down  I  brought  him.  I  gathered  him  up,  and  a 
fine  turkey  he  was.  I  now  began  to  think  we  had 
struck  a  breeze  of  luck,  and  almost  forgot  our  past 
sufferings,  in  the  prospect  of  once  more  having 
something  to  eat.  I  raised  the  shout,  and  my 
comrade  came  to  me,  and  we  went  on  to  our 
camp  with  the  game  we  had  killed.  While  we 
were  gone,  two  of  our  mess  had  been  out,  and 
each  of  them  had  found  a  bee  tree.  We  turned 
into  cooking  some  of  our  game,  but  we  had  nei 
ther  salt  nor  bread.  Just  at  this  moment,  on 
looking  down  the  creek,  we  saw  our  men,  who 
had  gone  on  before  us  for  provisions,  coming  to 
us.  They  came  up,  and  .  measured  out  to  each 
man  a  cupfull  of  flower.  With  this,  we  thickened 
our  soup,  when  our  turkey  was  cooked,  and  our 
friends  took  dinner  with  us,  and  then  went  on. 


120  THE  LIFE  OF 

We  now  took  our  tomahawks,  and  went  and  cut 
our  bee-trees,  out  of  which  we  got  a  fine  chance 
of  honey  ;  though  wre  had  been  starving  so  long 
that  we  feared  to  eat  much  at  a  time,  till,  like  the 
Irish  by  hanging,  we  got  used  to  it  again.  We 
rested  that  night  without  moving  our  camp  ;  and 
the  next  morning  myself  and  Vanzant  again 
turned  out  to  hunt.  We  had  not  gone  far,  before 
I  wounded  a  fine  buck  very  badly  ;  and  while  pur 
suing  him,  I  was  walking  on  a  large  tree  that  had 
fallen  down,  when  from  the  top  of  it,  a  large  bear  , 
broke  out  and  ran  off.  I  had  no  dogs,  and  I  was 
sorry  enough  for  it ;  for  of  all  the  hunting  I  ever 
did,  I  have  always  delighted  most  in  bear  hunting. 
Soon  after  this,  I  killed  a  large  buck  ;  and  we  had 
just  gotten  him  to  camp,  when  our  poor  starved 
army  came  up.  They  told  us,  that  to  lessen  their 
sufferings  as  much  as  possible,  Captain  William 
Russell  had  had  his  horse  led  up  to  be  shot  for 
them  to  eat,  just  at  the  moment  that  they  saw  our 
men  returning,  who  had  carried  on  the  flour. 

We  were  now  about  fourteen  miles  from  Fort 
Decatur,  and  we  gave  away  all  our  meat,  and 
honey,  and  went  on  with  the  rest  of  the  army. 
When  we  got  there,  they  could  give  us  only  one 
ration  of  meat,  but  not  a  mouthful  of  bread.  I  im 
mediately  got  a  canoe,  and  taking  my  gun,  crossed 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

over  the  river,  and  went  to  the  Big  Warrior's 
town.  I  had  a  large  hat,  and  I  offered  an  Indian 
a  silver  dollar  for  my  hat  full  of  corn.  He  told 
me  that  his  corn  was  all  "  shuestea"  which  in 
English  means,  it  was  all  gone.  But  he  showed 
me  where  an  Indian  lived,  who,  he  said,  had  corn. 
I  went  to  him,  and  made  the  same  offer.  He  could 
talk  a  little  broken  English,  and  said  to  me,  "  You 
got  any  powder  ?  You  got  bullet  ?"  I  told  him  I 
had.  He  then  said,  "  Me  swap  my  corn,  for 
powder  and  bullet."  I  took  out  about  ten  bullets, 
and  showed  him  ;  and  he  proposed  to  give  me  a 
hat  full  of  corn  for  them.  I  took  him  up,  mighty 
quick.  I  then  offered  to  give  him  ten  charges  of 
powder  for  another  hat  full  of  corn.  To  this  he 
agreed  very  willingly.  So  I  took  off  my  hunting- 
shirt,  and  tied  up  my  corn  ;  and  though  it  had 
cost  me  very  little  of  my  powder  and  lead,  yet  I 
wouldn't  have  taken  fifty  silver  dollars  for  it.  I  re 
turned  to  the  camp,  and  the  next  morning  we  start 
ed  for  the  Hickory  Ground,  which  was  thirty  miles 
off.  It  was  here  that  General  Jackson  met  the  In 
dians,  and  made  peace  with  the  body  of  the  nation. 
We  got  nothing  to  eat  at  this  place,  and  we  had 
yet  to  go  forty-nine  miles,  over  a  rough  and  wil 
derness  country,  to  Fort  Williams.  Parched  corn, 
and  but  little  even  of  that,  was  our  daily  subsist 


122  THE  LIFE  OF 

ence.  When  we  reached  Fort  Williams,  we  got 
one  ration  of  pork  and  one  of  flour,  which  was 
our  only  hope  until  we  could  reach  Fort  Strother. 

The  horses  were  now  giving  out,  and  I  remem 
ber  to  have  seen  thirteen  good  horses  left  in  one 
day,  the  saddles  and  bridles  being  thrown  away. 
It  was  thirty-nine  miles  to  Fort  Strother,  and  we 
had  to  pass  directly  by  Fort  Talladego,  where  we 
first  had  the  big  Indian  battle  with  the  eleven 
hundred  painted  warriors.  We  went  through  the 
old  battle  ground,  and  it  looked  like  a  great  gourd 
patch  ;  the  sculls  of  the  Indians  who  were  killed 
still  lay  scattered  all  about,  and  many  of  their 
frames  were  still  perfect,  as  the  bones  had  not 
separated.  But  about  five  miles  before  we  got  to 
this  battle  ground,  I  struck  a  trail,  which  I  followed 
until  it  led  me  to  one  of  their  towns.  Here  I  swap'd 
some  more  of  my  powder  and  bullets  fora  little  corn. 

I  pursued  on,  by  myself,  till  some  time  after 
night,  when  I  came  up  with  the  rest  of  the  army. 
That  night  my  company  and  myself  did  pretty 
well,  as  I  divided  out  my  corn  among  them.  The 
next  morning  we  met  the  East  Tennessee  troops, 
who  were  on  their  road  to  Mobile,  and  my  young 
est  brother  was  with  them.  They  had  plenty  of 
corn  and  provisions,  and  they  gave  me  what  I 
wanted  for  myself  and  my  horse.  I  remained 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  123 

with  them  that  night,  though  my  company  went 
across  the  Coosa  river  to  the  fort,  where  thej  also 
had  the  good  fortune  to  find  plenty  of  provisions. 
Next  morning,  I  took  leave  of  my  brother  and  all 
my  old  neighbours,  for  there  were  a  good  many  of 
them  with  him,  and  crossed  over  to  my  men  at 
the  fort.  Here  I  had  enough  to  go  on,  and  after 
remaining  a  few  days,  cut  out  for  home.  Nothing 
more,  worthy  of  the  reader's  attention,  transpired 
till  I  was  safely  landed  at  home  once  more  with 
my  wife  and  children.  I  found  them  all  well  and 
doing  well  ;  and  though  I  was  only  a  rough 
sort  of  a  backwoodsman,  they  seemed  mighty  glad 
to  see  me,  however  little  the  quality  folks  might 
suppose  it.  For  I  do  reckon  we  love  as  hard  in 
the  backwood  country,  as  any  people  in  the  whole 
.reation. 

But  I  had  been  home  only  a  few  days,  when  we 
received  orders  to  start  again,  and  go  on  to  the 
Black  Warrior  and  Cahawba  rivers,  to  see  if  there 
was  no  Indians  there.  I  know'd  well  enough  there 
was  none,  and  I  wasn't  willing  to  trust  my  craw 
any  more  where  there  was  neither  any  fighting  to 
do,  nor  any  thing  to  go  on;  and  so  I  agreed  to  give 
a  young  man,  who  wanted  to  go,  the  balance  of  my 
wages  if  he  would  serve  out  my  time,  which  was 
about  a  month.  He  did  so, and  when  they  returned, 


124  THE  LIFE  OF 

sure  enough  they  hadn't  seen  an  Indian  any  more 
than  if  they  had  been  all  the  time  chopping  wood 
in  my  clearing.  This  closed  my  career  as  a  warrior, 
and  I  am  glad  of  it,  for  I  like  life  now  a  heap  bet 
ter  than  I  did  then  ;  and  I  am  glad  all  over  that  I 
lived  to  see  these  times,  which  I  should  not 
have  done  if  I  had  kept  fooling  along  in  war,  and 
got  used  up  at  it.  When  I  say  I  am  glad,  I  just 
mean  I  am  glad  I  am  alive,  for  there  is  a  confound 
ed  heap  of  things  I  an't  glad  of  at  all.  I  an't  glad, 
for  example,  that  the  "  government"  moved  the 
deposites,  and  if  my  military  glory  should  take 
such  a  turn  as  to  make  me  president  after  the  ge 
neral's  time,  I  '11  move  them  back  ;  yes,  I,  the 
"  government,"  will  "  take  the  responsibility," 
and  move  them  back  again.  If  I  don't,  I  wish  I 
may  be  shot. 

But  I  am  glad  that  I  am  now  through  war  mat-  • 
ters,  and  I  reckon  the  reader  is  too,  for  they  have  no 
fun  in  them  at  all  ;  and  less  if  he  had  had  to  pass 
through  them  first,and  then  to  write  them  afterwards. 
But  for  the  dullness  of  their  narrative,  I  must  try 
to  make  amends  by  relating  some  of  the  curious 
things  that  happened  to  me  in  private  life,  and 
when  forced  to  become  a  public  man,  as  I  shall 
have  to  be  again,  if  ever  I  consent  to  take  the 
presidential  chair. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  125 


CHAPTER  IX. 


I  CONTINUED  at  home  now,  working  my  farm, 
for  two  years,  as  the  war  finally  closed  soon 
after  I  quit  the  service.  The  battle  at  New 
Orleans  had  already  been  fought,  and  treaties 
were  made  with  the  Indians  which  put  a  stop  to 
their  hostilities. 

But  in  this  time,  I  met  with  the  hardest  trial 
which  ever  falls  to  the  lot  of  man.  Death,  that 
cruel  leveller  of  all  distinctions, — to  whom  the 
prayers  and  tears  of  husbands,  and  of  even  help 
less  infancy,  are  addressed  in  vain, — entered  my 
humble  cottage,  and  tore  from  my  children  an  af 
fectionate  good  mother,  and  from  me  a  tender  and 
loving  wife. 

It  is  a  scene  long  gone  by,  and  one  which  it 
would  be  supposed  I  had  almost  forgotten  ;  yet 
when  I  turn  my  memory  back  on  it,  it  seems  as  but 
the  work  of  yesterday.  It  was  the  doing  of  the 
Almighty,  whose  ways  are  always  right,  though 
we  sometimes  think  they  fall  heavily  on  us  ;  and 


126  THE  LIFE  OP 

as  painful  as  is  even  yet  the  remembrance  of  her 
sufferings,  and  the  loss  sustained  by  my  little  chil 
dren  and  myself,  yet  I  have  no  wish  to  lift  up  the 
voice  of  complaint.  I  was  left  with  three  chil 
dren  ;  the  two  oldest  were  sons,  the  youngest  a 
daughter,  and,  at  that  time,  a  mere  infant.  It  ap 
peared  to  me,  at  that  moment,  that  my  situation 
was  the  worst  in  the  world.  I  couldn't  bear  the 
thought  of  scattering  my  children,  and  so  I  got 
my  youngest  brother,  who  was  also  married,  and 
his  family  to  live  with  me.  They  took  as  good 
care  of  my  children  as  they  well  could,  but  yet  it 
wasn't  all  like  the  care  of  a  mother.  And  though 
their  company  was  to  me  in  every  respect  like 
that  of  a  brother  and  sister,  yet  it  fell  far  short  of 
being  like  that  of  a  wife.  So  I  came  to  the  con 
clusion  it  wouldn't  do,  but  that  I  must  have  an 
other  wife. 

There  lived  in  the  neighbourhood,  a  widow  lady 
whose  husband  had  been  killed  in  the  war.  She 
had  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  and  both 
quite  small,  like  my  own.  I  began  to  think,  that 
as  we  were  both  in  the  same  situation,  it  might  be 
that  we  could  do  something  for  each  other  ;  and  I 
therefore  began  to  hint  a  little  around  the  matter, 
as  we  were  once  and  a  while  together.  She  was  a 
good  industrious  woman,  and  owned  a  snug  little 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  127 

farm,  and  lived  quite  comfortable.  I  soon  began 
to  pay  my  respects  to  her  in  real  good  earnest ; 
but  I  was  as  sly  about  it  as  a  fox  when  he  is  going 
to  rob  a  hen-roost.  I  found  that  my  company 
wasn't  at  all  disagreeable  to  her  ;  and  I  thought  I 
could  treat  her  children  with  so  much  friendship 
as  to  make  her  a  good  stepmother  to  mine,  and  in 
this  I  wan't  mistaken,  as  we  soon  bargained,  and 
got  married,  and  then  went  ahead.  In  a  great 
deal  of  peace  we  raised  our  first  crop  of  chil 
dren,  and  they  are  all  married  and  doing  well.  But 
we  had  a  second  crop  together  ;  and  I  shall  notice 
them  as  I  go  along,  as  my  wife  and  myself  both 
had  a  hand  in  them,  and  they  therefore  belong  to 
the  history  of  my  second  marriage. 

The  next  fall  after  this  marriage,  three  of  my 
neighbours  and  myself  determined  to  explore  a 
new  country.  Their  names  were  Robinson,  Fra- 
zier,  and  Rich.  We  set  out  for  the  Creek  country, 
crossing  the  Tennessee  river;  and  after  having 
made  a  day's  travel,  we  stop'd  at  the  house  of  one 
of  my  old  acquaintances,  who  had  settled  there 
after  the  war.  Resting  here  a  day,  Frazier  turned 
out  to  hunt,  being  a  great  hunter  ;  but  he  got 
badly  bit  by  a  very  poisonous  snake,  and  so  we 
left  him  and  went  on.  We  passed  through  a  large 
rich  valley,  called  Jones's  valley,  where  several 


128  THE  LIFE  OF 

other  families  had  settled,  and  continued  our 
course  till  we  came  near  to  the  place  where  Tus- 
caloosa  now  stands.  Here  we  camped,  as  there 
were  no  inhabitants,  and  hobbled  out  our  horses 
for  the  night.  About  two  hours  before  day,  we 
heard  the  bells  on  our  horses  going  back  the  way 
we  had  come,  as  they  had  started  to  leave  us. 
As  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  I  started  in  pursuit  of 
them  on  foot,  and  carrying  my  rifle,  which  was  a 
very  heavy  one.  I  went  ahead  the  whole  day, 
wading  creeks  and  swamps,  and  climbing  moun 
tains  ;  but  I  couldn't  overtake  our  horses,  though 
I  could  hear  of  them  at  every  house  they  passed. 
I  at  last  found  I  couldn't  catch  up  with  them,  and 
so  I  gave  up  the  hunt,  and  turned  back  to  the  last 
house  I  had  passed,  and  staid  there  till  morning. 
From  the  best  calculation  we  could  make,  I  had 
walked  over  fifty  miles  that  day  ;  and  the  next 
morning  I  was  so  sore,  and  fatigued,  that  I  felt 
like  I  couldn't  walk  any  more.  But  I  was  anxious 
to  get  back  to  where  I  had  left  my  company,  and 
so  I  started  and  went  on,  but  mighty  slowly,  till 
after  the  middle  of  the  day.  I  now  began  to 
feel  mighty  sick,  and  had  a  dreadful  head-ache. 
My  rifle  was  so  heavy,  and  I  felt  so  weak,  that  I 
lay  down  by  the  side  of  the  trace,  in  a  perfect 
wilderness  too,  to  see  if  I  wouldn't  get  better 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  129 

In  a  short  time  some  Indians  came  along.  They 
had  some  ripe  melons,  and  wanted  me  to  eat 
some,  but  I  was  so  sick  I  couldn't.  They  then 
signed  to  me,  that  I  would  die,  and  be  buried  ; 
a  thing  I  was  confoundedly  afraid  of  myself. 
But  I  asked  them  how  hear  it  was  to  any  house  ? 
By  their  signs,  again,  they  made  me  understand  it 
was  a  mile  and  a  half.  I  got  up  to  go ;  but  when 
I  rose,  I  reeled  about  like  a  cow  with  the  blind 
staggers,  or  a  fellow  who  had  taken  too  many 
"  horns."  One  of  the  Indians  proposed  to  go 
with  me,  and  carry  my  gun.  I  gave  him  half  a 
dollar,  and  accepted  his  offer.  We  got  to  the 
house,  by  which  time  I  was  pretty  far  gone,  but 
was  kindly  received,  and  got  on  to  a  bed.  The 
woman  did  all  she  could  for  me  with  her  warm 
teas,  but  I  still  continued  bad  enough,  with  a  high 
fever,  and  generally  out  of  my  senses.  The  next 
day  two  of  my  neighbours  were  passing  the  road, 
and  heard  of  my  situation,  and  came  to  where  I 
was.  They  were  going  nearly  the  route  I  had 
intended  to  go,  to  look  at  the  country;  and  so 
they  took  me  first  on  one  of  their  horses,  and 
then  on  the  other,  till  they  got  me  back  to  where 
[  had  left  my  company.  I  expected  I  would  get 
better,  and  be  able  to  go  on  with  them,  but,  instead 
of  this,  I  got  worse  and  worse  ;  and  when  we  got 


*• 

130  THE  LIFE  OF 

there,  I  wan't  able  to  sit  up  at  all.  I  thought 
now  the  jig  was  mighty  nigh  up  with  me,  but  I 
determined  to  keep  a  stiff  upper  lip.  They  car 
ried  me  to  a  house,  and  each  of  my  comrades 
bought  him  a  horse,  and  they  all  set  out  together, 
leaving  me  behind.  I  knew  but  little  that  was 
going  on  for  about  two  weeks  ;  but  the  family 
treated  me  with  every  possible  kindness  in  their 
power,  and  I  shall  always  feel  thankful  to  them. 
The  man's  name  was  Jesse  Jones.  At  the  end  of 
two  weeks  I  began  to  mend  without  the  help  of  a 
doctor,  or  of  any  doctor's  means.  In  this  time, 
however,  as  they  told  me,  I  was  speechless  for 
five  days,  and  they  had  no  thought  that  I  would 
ever  speak  again, — in  Congress  or  any  where  else. 
And  so  the  woman,  who  had  a  bottle  of  Bates- 
man's  draps,  thought  if  they  killed  me,  I  would 
only  die  any  how,  and  so  she  would  try  it  with 
me.  She  gave  me  the  whole  bottle,  which 
thro  wed  me  into  a  sweat  that  continued  on  me 
all  night  ;  when  at  last  I  seemed  to  make  up,  and 
spoke,  and  asked  her  for  a  drink  of  water.  This 
almost  alarmed  her,  for  she  was  looking  every 
minute  for  me  to  die.  She  gave  me  the  water, 
and,  from  that  time,  I  began  slowly  to  mend,  and 
so  kept  on  till  I  was  able  at  last  to  walk  about  a 
little.  I  might  easily  have  been  mistaken  for 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  131 

one  of  the  Kitchen  Cabinet,  I  looked  so  much 
like  a  ghost.  I  have  been  particular  in  giving  a 
history  of  this  sickness,  not  because  I  believe  it 
will  interest  any  body  much  now,  nor,  indeed, 
do  I  certainly  know  that  it  ever  will.  But  if  I 
should  be  forced  to  take  the  "  white  house,"  then 
it  will  be  good  history  ;  and  every  one  will  look 
on  it  as  important.  And  I  can't,  for  my  life,  help 
laughing  now,  to  think,  that  when  all  my  folks 
get  around  me,  wanting  good  fat  offices,  how  so 
many  of  them  will  say,  "What  a  good  thing  it 
was  that  that  kind  woman  had  the  bottle  of  draps, 
that  saved  PRESIDENT  CROCKETT'S  life, — the  se 
cond  greatest  and  best"!  !  !  !  !  Good,  says  I, 
my  noble  fellow  !  You  take  the  post  office  ;  or 
the  navy  ;  or  the  war  office  ;  or  may-be  the 
treasury.  But  if  I  give  him  the  treasury,  there's 
no  devil  if  I  don't  make  him  agree  first  to  fetch 
back  them  deposites.  And  if  it's  even  the  post- 
office,  I'll  make  him  promise  to  keep  his  money 
'counts  without  any  figuring,  as  that  throws  the 
whole  concern  heels  over  head  in  debt,  in  little 
or  no  time. 

But  when  I  got  so  I  could  travel  a  little,  I  got 
a  waggoner  who  was  passing  along  to  hawl  me 
to  where  he  lived,  which  was  about  twenty  miles 
from  my  house.  I  still  mended  as  we  went  along, 


132  THE  LIFE  OF 

and  when  we  got  to  his  stopping  place,  I  hired 
one  of  his  horses,  and  went  on  home.  I  was  so 
pale,  and  so  much  reduced,  that  my  face  looked 
like  it  had  been  half  soled  with  brown  paper. 

When  I  got  there,  it  was  to  the  utter  astonish 
ment  of  my  wife ;  for  she  supposed  I  was  dead. 
My  neighbours  who  had  started  with  me  had  re 
turned  and  took  my  horse  home,  which  they 
had  found  with  their's  ;  and  they  reported  that 
they  had  seen  men  who  had  helped  to  bury  me  ; 
and  who  saw  me  draw  my  last  breath.  I  know'd 
this  was  a  whapper  of  a  lie,  as  soon  as  I  heard  it. 
My  wife  had  hired  a  man,  and  sent  him  out  to  see 
what  had  become  of  my  money  and  other  things  ; 
but  I  had  missed  the  man  as  I  went  in,  and  he 
didn't  return  until  some  time  after  I  got  home, 
as  he  went  all  the  way  to  where  I  lay  sick,  before 
ne  heard  that  I  was  still  in  the  land  of  the  living 
and  a-kicking. 

The  place  on  which  I  lived  was  sickly,  and  I 
was  determined  to  leave  it.  I  therefore  set  out 
the  next  fall  to  look  at  the  country  which  had 
been  purchased  of  the  Chickasaw  tribe  of  Indians. 
I  went  on  to  a  place  called  Shoal  Creek,  about 
eighty  miles  from  where  I  lived,  and  here  again 
I  got  sick.  I  took  the  ague  and  fever,  which  I 
supposed  was  brought  on  me  by  camping  out.  I 


DAVID  CROCKETT  133 

remained  here  for  some  time,  as  I  was  unable  to 
go  farther  ;  and  in  that  time,  I  became  so  well 
pleased  with  the  country  about  there,  that  T  re 
solved  to  settle  in  it.  It  was  just  only  a  little  dis 
tance  in  the  purchase,  and  no  order  had  been  es 
tablished  there  ;  but  I  thought  I  could  get  along 
without  order  as  well  as  any  body  else.  And  so  I 
moved  and  settled  myself  down  on  the  head  of 
Shoal  Creek.  We  remained  here  some  two  or 
three  years,  without  any  law  at  all ;  and  so  many 
bad  characters  began  to  flock  in  upon  us,  that  we 
found  it  necessary  to  set  up  a  sort  of  temporary 
government  of  our  own.  I  don't  mean  that  we 
made  any  president,  and  called  him  the  "  govern 
ment,"  but  we  met  and  made  .what  we  called  a 
corporation  ;  and  I  reckon  we  called  it  wrong, 
for  it  wa'n't  a  bank,  and  hadn't  any  deposites  ; 
and  now  they  call  the  bank  a  corporation.  But 
be  this  as  it  may,  we  lived  in  the  back-woods,  and 
didn't  profess  to  know  much,  and  no  doubt  used 
many  wrong  words.  But  we  met,  and  appointed 
magistrates  and  constables  to  keep  order.  We 
didn't  fix  any  laws  for  them,  tho'  ;  for  we  sup 
posed  they  would  know  law  enough,  whoever 
they  might  be  ;  and  so  we  left  it  to  themselves  to 
fix  the  laws. 

I  was  appointed  one  of  the  magistrates  ;  and 
M 


134  THE  LIFE  OF 

when  a  man  owed  a  debt,  and  wouldn't  pay 
it,  I  and  my  constable  ordered  our  warrant,  and 
then  he  would  take  the  man,  and  bring  him  be 
fore  me  for  trial.  I  would  give  judgment  against 
him,  and  then  an  order  of  an  execution  would 
easily  scare  the  debt  out  of  him.  If  any  one  was 
charged  with  marking  his  neighbour's  hogs,  or 
with  stealing  any  thing,  which  happened  pretty 
often  in  those  days, — I  would  have  him  taken,  and 
if  there  was  tolerable  grounds  for  the  charge,  I 
would  have  him  wrell  whip'd  and  cleared.  We 
kept  this  up  till  our  Legislature  added  us  to 
the  white  settlements  in  Giles  county  ;  and  ap 
pointed  magistrates  by  law,  to  organize  matters  in 
the  parts  where  I  lived.  They  appointed  nearly 
every  man  a  magistrate  who  had  belonged  to  our 
corporation.  I  was  then,  of  course,  made  a  squire 
according  to  law  ;  though  now  the  honour  rested 
more  heavily  on  me  than  before.  For,  at  first, 
whenever  I  told  my  constable,  says  I — "  Catch  that 
fellow,  and  bring  him  up  for  trial" — away  he  went, 
and  the  fellow  must  come,  dead  or  alive ;  for  we 
considered  this  a  good  warrant,  though  it  was  only 
in  verbal  writings.  But  after  I  was  appointed 
by  the  assembly,  they  told  me,  my  warrants  must 
be  in  real  writing,  and  signed  ;  and  that  I  must 
keen  a  book,  and  write  my  proceedings  in  it 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

This  was  a  hard  business  on  me,  for  I  could  just 
barely  write  my  own  name  ;  but  to  do  this,  and 
write  the  warrants  too,  was  at  least  a  huckle 
berry  over  my  persimmon.  I  had  a  pretty 
well  informed  constable,  however  ;  and  he  aided 
me  very  much  in  this  business.  Indeed  I  had  so 
much  confidence  in  him,  that  I  told  him,  when  we 
should  happen  to  be  out  anywhere,  and  see  that 
a  warrant  was  necessary,  and  would  have  a  good 
effect,  he  need'nt  take  the  trouble  to  come  all 
the  way  to  me  to  get  one,  but  he  could  just  fill 
out  one  ;  and  then  on  the  trial  I  could  correct  the 
whole  business  if  he  had  committed  any  error.  In 
this  way  I  got  on  pretty  well,  till  by  care  and  at 
tention  I  improved  my  handwriting  in  such  man 
ner  as  to  be  able  to  prepare  my  warrants,  and  keep 
my  record  book,  without  much  difficulty.  My 
judgments  were  never  appealed  from,  and  if  they 
had  been  they  would  have  stuck  like  wax,  as  I 
gave  my  decisions  on  the  principles  of  common 
justice  and  honesty  between  man  and  man,  and 
relied  on  natural  born  sense,  and  not  on  law, 
learning  to  guide  me  ;  for  I  had  never  read  a 
page  in  a  law  book  in  all  my  life. 


THE  LIFE  OF  DAVID  CROCKETT. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ABOUT  the  time  we  were  getting  under  good 
headway  in  our  new  government,  a  Capt.  Mat 
thews  came  to  me  and  told  me  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  office  of  colonel  of  a  regiment,  and  that  I 
must  run  for  first  major  in  the  same  regiment.  I 
objected  to  this,  telling  him  that  I  thought  I  had 
done  my  share  of  fighting,  and  that  I  wanted  no 
thing  to  do  with  military  appointments. 

He  still  insisted,  until  at  last  I  agreed,  and  of 
course  had  every  reason  to  calculate  on  his  support 
in  my  election.  He  was  an  early  settler  in  that 
country,  and  made  rather  more  corn  than  the  rest 
of  us  ;  and  knowing  it  would  afford  him  a  good 
opportunity  to  electioneer  a  little,  he  made  a  great 
corn  husking,  and  a  great  frolic,  and  gave  a  gene 
ral  treat,  asking  every  body  over  the  whole  coun 
try.  Myself  and  my  family  were,  of  course,  in 
vited.  When  I  got  there,  I  found  a  very  large  col 
lection  of  people,  and  some  friend  of  mine  soon 
informed  me  that  the  captain's  son  was  going  to 

M2 


138  THE  LIFE  OF 

offer  against  me  for  the  office  of  major,  which  he 
had  seemed  so  anxious  for  me  to  get.  I  cared 
nothing  about  the  office,  but  it  put  my  dander  up 
high  enough  to  see,  that  after  he  had  pressed  me 
so  hard  to  offer,  he  was  countenancing,  if  not  en 
couraging,  a  secret  plan  to  beat  me.  I  took  the 
old  gentleman  out,  and  asked  him  about  it  He 
told  me  it  was  true  his  son  was  going  to  run 
as  a  candidate,  and  that  he  hated  worse  to  run 
against  me  than  any  man  in  the  county.  I  told 
him  his  son  need  give  himself  no  uneasiness  about 
that  ;  that  I  shouldn't  run  against  him  for  major, 
but  against  his  daddy  for  colonel.  He  took  me 
by  the  hand,  and  we  went  into  the  company.  He 
then  made  a  speech,  and  informed  the  people  that 
I  was  his  opponent.  I  mounted  up  for  a  speech 
too.  I  told  the  people  the  cause  of  my  opposing 
him,  remarking  that  as  I  had  the  whole  family  to 
run  against  any  way,  I  was  determined  to  levy  on 
the  head  of  the  mess.  When  the  time  for  the  elec 
tion  came,  his  son  was  opposed  by  another  man  for 
major  ;  and  he  and  his  daddy  were  both  badly 
beaten.  I  just  now  began  to  take  a  rise,  as  in  a 
little  time  I  was  asked  to  offer  for  1  he  Legislature 
in  the  counties  of  Lawrence  and  Heckman. 

I  offered  my  name  in  the  month  of  February, 
and  started  about  the  first  of  March  with  a  drove 


PAVID  CROCKETT.  139 

of  horses  to  the  lower  part  of  the  state  of  North 
Carolina.  This  was  in  the  year  1821,  and  I  was 
gone  upwards  of  three  months.  I  returned,  and 
set  out  electioneering,  which  was  a  bran-fire  new 
business  to  me.  It  now  became  necessary  that  I 
should  tell  the  people  something  about  the  govern 
ment,  and  an  eternal  sight  of  other  things  that  I 
knowed  nothing  more  about  than  I  did  about  Latin, 
and  law,  and  such  things  as  that,  i  have  said  be 
fore  that  in  those  days  none  of  us  caMed  Gen'l. 
Jackson  the  government,  nor  did  he  seem  in  as 
fair  a  way  to  become  so  as  I  do  now  ;  but  I  knowed 
so  little  about  it,  that  if  any  one  had  told  me  he 
was  "  the  government,"  I  should  have  believed  it, 
for  I  had  never  read  even  a  newspaper  in  my  life, 
or  any  thing  else,  on  the  subject.  But  over  all  my 
difficulties,  it  seems  to  me  I  was  born  for  luck, 
though  it  would  be  hard  for  any  one  to  guess  what 
sort.  I  will,  however,  explain  that  hereafter. 

I  went  first  into  Heckman  county,  to  see  what  I 
could  do  among  the  people  as  a  candidate.  Here 
they  told  me  that  they  wanted  to  move  their  town 
nearer  to  the  centre  of  the  county,  and  I  must 
come  out  in  favour  of  it.  There's  no  devil  if  I 
knowed  what  this  meant,  or  how  the  town  was  to 
be  moved  ;  and  so  I  kept  dark,  going  on  the  iden 
tical  same  plan  that  I  now  find  is  called  "  non- 


140  THE  LIFE  OF 

committal."  About  this  time  there  was  a  great 
squirrel  hunt  on  Duck  river,  which  was  among  my 
people.  They  were  to  hunt  two  days :  then  to 
meet  and  count  the  scalps,  and  have  a  big  barbe 
cue,  and  what  might  be  called  a  tip-top  country 
frolic.  The  dinner,  and  a  general  treat,  was  all  to 
be  paid  for  by  the  party  having  taken  the  fewest 
scalps.  I  joined  one  side,  taking  the  place  of  one 
of  the  hunters,  and  got  a  gun  ready  for  the  hunt. 
I  killed  a  great  many  squirrels,  and  when  we 
counted  scalps,  my  party  was  victorious. 

The  company  had  every  thing  to  eat  and  drink 
that  could  be  furnished  in  so  new  a  country,  and 
much  fun  and  good  humour  prevailed.  But  be 
fore  the  regular  frolic  commenced,  I  mean  the 
dancing,  I  was  called  on  to  make  a  speech  as  a  can 
didate  ;  which  was  a  business  I  was  as  ignorant  of 
as  an  outlandish  negro. 

A  public  document  I  had  never  seen,  nor  did  I 
know  there  were  such  things  ;  and  how  to  begin  I 
couldn't  tell.  I  made  many  apologies,  and  tried  to 
get -off,  for  I  know'd  I  had  a  man  to  run  against 
who  could  speak  prime,  and  I  know'd,  too,  that  1 
wa'n't  able  to  shuffle  and  cut  with  him.  He  was 
there,  and  knowing  my  ignorance  as  well  as  I  did 
myself,  he  also  urged  me  to  make  a  speech.  The 
truth  is,  he  thought  my  being  a  candidate  was  a 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

mere  matter  of  sport;  and  didn't  think,  for  a  mo 
ment,  that  he  was  in  any  danger  from  an  ignorant 
back-woods  bear  hunter.  But  I  found  I  couldn't 
get  off,  and  so  I  determined  just  to  go  ahead,  and 
leave  it  to  chance  what  I  should  say.  I  got  up 
and  told  the  people,  I  reckoned  they  know'd  what 
I  come  for,  but  if  not,  I  could  tell  them.  I  had 
come  for  their  votes,  and  if  they  didn't  watch 
mighty  close,  I'd  get  them  too.  But  the  worst 
of  all  was,  that  I  couldn't  tell  them  any  thing  about 
government.  I  tried  to  speak  about  something, 
and  I  cared  very  little  what,  until  I  choaked  up  as 
bad  as  if  my  mouth  had  been  jam'd  and  cram'd 
chock  full  of  dry  mush.  There  the  people  stood, 
listening  all  the  while,  with  their  eyes,  mouths 
and  years  all  open,  to  catch  every  word  I  would 
speak. 

At  last  I  told  them  I  was  like  a  fellow  I  had 
heard  of  not  long  before.  He  was  beating  on  the 
head  of  an  empty  barrel  near  the  road-side,  when 
a  traveler,  who  was  passing  along,  asked  him  what 
he  was  doing  that  for  ?  The  fellow  replied,  that 
there  was  some  cider  in  that  barrel  a  few  days  be 
fore,  and  he  was  trying  to  see  if  there  was  any  then, 
but  if  there  was  he  couldn't  get  at  it.  I  told  them 
that  there  had  been  a  little  bit  of  a  speech  in  me  a 
while  ago,  but  I  believed  I  couldn't  get  it  out. 


142  THE  LIFE  OF 

They  all  roared  out  in  a  mighty  laugh,  and  I  told 
some  other  anecdotes,  equally  amusing  to  them, 
and  believing  I  had  them  in  a  first-rate  way,  I  quit 
and  got  down,  thanking  the  people  for  their  atten 
tion.  But  I  took  care  to  remark  that  I  was  as  dry 
as  a  powder  horn,  and  that  I  thought  it  was  time 
for  us  all  to  wet  our  whistles  a  little ;  and  so  I  put 
off  to  the  liquor  stand,  and  was  followed  by  the 
greater  part  of  the  crowd. 

I  felt  certain  this  was  necessary,  for  I  knowed 
my  competitor  could  open  government  matters  to 
them  as  easy  as  he  pleased.  He  had,  however, 
mighty  few  left  to  hear  him,  as  I  continued  with 
the  crowd,  now  and  then  taking  a  horn,  and  telling 
good  humoured  stories,  till  he  was  done  speaking. 
I  found  I  was  good  for  the  votes  at  the  hunt,  and 
when  we  broke  up,  I  went  on  to  the  town  of  Vef- 
non,  which  was  the  same  they  wanted  me  to  move. 
Here  they  pressed  me  again  on  the  subject,  and  I 
found  I  could  get  either  party  by  agreeing  with 
them.  But  I  told  them  I  didn't  know  whether  it 
would  be  right  or  not,  and  so  couldn't -promise 
either  way. 

Their  court  commenced  on  the  next  Monday,  as 
the  barbacue  was  on  a  Saturday,  and  the  candi 
dates  for  governor  and  for  Congress,  as  well  as  my 
competitor  and  myself,  all  attended. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  143 

The  thought  of  having  to  make  a  speech  made 
my  knees  feel  mighty  weak,  and  set  my  heart  to 
fluttering  almost  as  bad  as  my  first  love  scrape  with 
the  Quaker's  niece.  But  as  good  luck  would  have 
it,  these  big  candidates  spoke  nearly  all  day,  and 
when  they  quit,  the  people  were  worn  out  with 
fatigue,  which  afforded  me  a  good  apology  for  not 
discussing  the  government.  But  I  listened  mighty 
close  to  them,  and  was  learning  pretty  fast  about 
political  matters.  When  they  were  all  done,  I  got 
up  and  told  some  laughable  story,  and  quit.  I 
found  I  was  safe  in  those  parts,  and  so  I  went 
home,  and  didn't  go  back  again  till  after  the 
election  was  over.  But  to  cut  this  matter  short, 
I  was  elected,  doubling  my  competitor,  and  nine 
votes  over. 

A  short  time  after  this,  I  was  in  Pulaski,  where 
I  met  with  Colonel  Polk,  now  a  member  of  Con 
gress  from  Tennessee.  He  was  at.  that  time  a 
member  elected  to  the  Legislature,  as  well  as  my 
self  ;  and  in  a  large  company  he  said  to  me, 
"  Well,  colonel,  I  suppose  we  shall  have  a  radical 
change  of  the  judiciary  at  the  next  session  of  the 
Legislature."  "Very  likely,  sir,"  says  I,  and  I 
put  out  quicker,  for  I  was  afraid  some  one  would 
ask  me  what  the  judiciary  was ;  and  if  I  knovved 
I  wish  I  may  be  shot.  I  don't  indeed  believe  I  had 


144  THE  LIFE  OF 

ever  before  heard  that  there  was  any  such  thing 
in  all  nature  ;  but  still  I  was  not  willing  that  the 
people  there  should  know  how  ignorant  I  was 
about  it. 

When  the  time  for  meeting  of  the  Legislature 
arrived,  I  went  on,  and  before  I  had  been  there 
long,  I  could  have  told  what  the  judiciary  was, 
and  what  the  government  was  too  ;  and  many 
other  things  that  I  had  known  nothing  about  be 
fore. 

About  this  time  I  met  with  a  very  severe  mis 
fortune,  which  I  may  be  pardoned  for  naming,  as 
it  made  a  great  change  in  my  circumstances,  and 
kept  me  back  very  much  in  the  world.  I  had 
built  an  extensive  grist  mill,  and  powder  mill,  all 
connected  together,  and  also  a  large  distillery. 
They  had  cost  me  upwards  of  three  thousand 
dollars,  more  than  I  was  worth  in  the  world. 
The  first  news  that  I  heard  after  I  got  to  the 
Legislature,  was,  that  my  mills  were — not  blown 
up  sky  high,  as  you  would  guess,  by  my  powder 
establishment, — but  swept  away  all  to  smash  by  a 
large  fresh,  that  came  soon  after  I  left  home.  I 
had,  of  course,  to  stop  my  distillery,  as  my  grind 
ing  was  broken  up  ;  and,  indeed,  I  may  say,  that 
the  misfortune  just  made  a  complete  mash  of  me. 
T  had  some  likely  negroes,  and  a  good  stock  of 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  145 

almost  every  thing  about  me,  and,  best  of  all,  I 
had  an  honest"  wife.  She  didn't  advise  me,  as  is 
too  fashionable,  to  smuggle  up  this,  and  that,  and 
t'other,  to  go  on  at  home  ;  but  she  told  me, 
says  she,.  "Just  pay  up,  as  long  as  you  have  a  bit's 
worth  in  the  world  ;  and  then  every  body  will 
be  satisfied,  and  we  will  scuffle  for  more."  This 
was  just  such  talk  as  I  wanted  to  hear,  for  a 
man's  wife  can  hold  him  devlish  uneasy,  if  she 
begins  to  scold,  and  fret,  and  perplex  him,  at  a 
time  when  he  has  a  full  load  for  a  rail-road  car 
on  his  mind  already. 

And  so,  you  see,  I  determined  not  to  break  full 
handed,  but  thought  it  better  to  keep  a  good  con 
science  with  an  empty  purse,  than  to  get  a  bad 
opinion  of  myself,  with  a  full  one.  I  therefore 
gave  up  all  I  had,  and  took  a  bran-fire  new  start. 


N 


THE  LIFE  OF  DAVID  CROCKETT.  147 


CHAPTER  XL 

HAVING  returned  from  the  Legislature,  I  de 
termined  to  make  another  move,  and  so  I  took  my 
eldest  son  with  me,  and  a  young  man  by  the  name 
of  Abram  Henry,  and  cut  out  for  the  Obion.  I  se 
lected  a  spot  when  I  got  there,  where  I  de 
termined  to  settle  ;  and  the  nearest  house  to  it 
was  seven  miles,  the  next  nearest  was  fifteen, 
and  so  on  to  twenty.  It  was  a  complete  wilder 
ness,  and  full  of  Indians  who  were  hunting.  Game 
was  plenty  of  almost  every  kind,  which  suited 
me  exactly,  as  I  was  always  fond  of  hunting. 
The  house  which  was  nearest  me,  and  which,  as  I 
have  already  stated,  was  seven  miles  off,  and  on 
the  different  side  of  the  Obion  river,  belonged  to 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Owens  ;  and  I  started  to 
go  there.  I  had  taken  one  horse  along,  to  pack 
our  provision,  and  when  I  got  to  the  water  I  hob 
bled  him  out  to  graze,  until  I  got  back  ;  as  there 
was  no  boat  to  cross  the  river  in,  and  it  was  so 


148  THE  LIFE  OF 

high  that  it  had  overflowed  all  the  bottoms  and 
low  country  near  it. 

We  now  took  water  like  so  many  beavers,  not 
withstanding  it  was  mighty  cold,  and  waded  on. 
The  water  would  sometimes  be  up  to  our  necks, 
and  at  others  not  so  deep ;  but  I  went,  of  course, 
before,  and  carried  a  pole,  with  which  I  would  feel 
along  before  me,  to  see  how  deep  it  was,  and  to 
guard  against  falling  into  a  slough,  as  there  was 
many  in  our  way.  When  I  would  come  to  one, 
I  would  take  out  my  tomahawk  and  cut  a  small 
tree  across  it,  and  then  go  ahead  again.  Fre 
quently  my  little  son  would  have  to  swim,  even 
where  myself  and  the  young  man  could  wade  ; 
but  we  worked  on  till  at  last  we  got  to  the  channel 
of  the  river,  which  made  it  about  half  a  mile 
we  had  waded  from  where  we  took  water.  I 
saw  a  large  tree  that  had  fallen  into  the  river 
from  the  other  side,  but  it  didn't  reach  across. 
One  stood  on  the  same  bank  where  we  were,  that 
I  thought  I  could  fall,  so  as  to  reach  the  other ; 
and  so  at  it  we  went  with  my  tomahawk,  cutting 
away  till  we  got  it  down  ;  and,  as  good  luck 
would  have  it,  it  fell  right,  and  made  us  a  way 
that  we  could  pass. 

When  we  got  over  this,  it  was  still  a  sea  of 
water  as  far  as  our  eyes  could  reach.     We  took 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  149 

into  it  again,  and  went  ahead,  for  about  a  mile, 
hardly  ever  seeing  a  single  spot  of  land,  and 
sometimes  very  deep.  At  last  we  come  in  sight 
of  land,  which  was  a  very  pleasing  thing  ;  and 
when  we  got  out,  we  went  but  a  little  way,  be 
fore  we  came  in  sight  of  the  house,  which  was 
more  pleasing  than  ever  ;  for  we  were  wet  all 
over,  ami  mighty  cold.  I  felt  mighty  sorry  when 
I  would  look  at  my  little  boy,  and  see  him  shak 
ing  like  he  had  the  worst  sort  of  an  ague,  for 
there  was  no  time  for  fever  then.  As  we  got 
near  to  the  house,  we  saw  Mr.  Owens  and  seve 
ral  men  that  were  with  him,  just  starting  away. 
They  saw  us,  and  stop'd,  but  looked  much  asto 
nished  until  we  got  up  to  them,  and  I  made  my 
self  known.  The  men  who  were  with  him 
were  the  owners  of  a  boat  which  was  the  first 
that  ever  went  that  far  up  the  Obion  river  ; 
and  some  hands  he  had  hired  to  carry  it  about 
a  hundred  miles  still  further  up,  by  water,  tho' 
it  was  only  about  thirty  by  land,  as  the  river  is 
very  crooked. 

They  all  turned  back  to  the  house  with  me, 
where  I  found  Mrs.  Owens,  a  fine,  friendly  old 
woman  ;  and  her  kindness  to  my  little  boy  did 
me  ten  times  as  much  good  as  any  thing  she 
could  have  done  for  me,  if  she  had  tried  her 
N2 


150  THE  LIFE  OF 

best.  The  old  gentleman  set  out  his  bottle  to 
us,  and  I  concluded  that  if  a  horn  wasn't  good 
then,  there  was  no  use  for  its  invention.  So  I 
swig'd  off  about  a  half  pint,  and  the  young  man 
was  by  no  means  bashful  in  such  a  case  ;  he  took 
a  strong  pull  at  it  too.  I  then  gave  my  boy  some, 
and  in  a  little  time  we  felt  pretty  well.  We  dried 
ourselves  by  the  fire,  and  were  asked  to  go  on 
board  of  the  boat  that  evening.  I  agreed  to  do 
so,  but  -left  my  son  with  the  old  lady,  and  my 
self  and  my  young  man  went  to  the  boat  with 
Mr.  Owens  and  the  others.  The  boat  was  load 
ed  with  whiskey,  flour,  sugar,  coffee,  salt,  cast 
ings,  and  other  articles  suitable  for  the  country  ; 
and  they  were  to  receive  five  hundred  dollars  to 
land  the  load  at  M'Lemore's  Bluff,  beside  the 
profit  they  could  make  on  their  load.  This  was 
merely  to  show  that  boats  could  get  up  to  that 
point.  We  staid  all  night  with  them,  and  had  a 
high  night  of  it,  as  I  took  steam  enough  to  drive 
out  all  the  cold  that  was  in  me,  and  about  three 
times  as  much  more.  In  the  morning  we  con 
cluded  to  go  on  with  the  boat  to  where  a  great 
harricane  had  crossed  the  river,  and  blowed  all 
the  timber  down  into  it.  When  we  got  there, 
we  found  the  river  was  falling  fast,  and  con 
cluded  we  couldn't  get  through  the  timber  with- 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

out  more  rise ;  so  we  clrop'd  clown  opposite  Mr. 
Owens'  again,  where  they  determined  to  wait  for 
more  water. 

The  next  day  it  rained  rip-roriously,  and  the 
river  rose  pretty  considerable,  but  not  enough  yet. 
And  so  I  got  the  boatsmen  all  to  go  out  with  me  to 
where  I  was  going  to  settle,  and  we  slap'd  up  a 
cabin  in  little  or  no  time.  I  got  from  the  boat 
four  barrels  of  meal,  and  one  of  salt,  and  about  ten 
gallons  of  whiskey. 

To  pay  for  these,  I  agreed  to  go  with  the  boat 
up  the  river  to  their  landing  place.  I  got  also  a 
large  middling  of  bacon,  and  killed  a  fine  deer, 
and  left  them  for  my  young  man  and  my  little 
boy,  who  were  to  stay  at  my  cabin  till  I  got  back; 
which  I  expected  would  be  in  six  or  seven  days. 
We  cut  out,  and  moved  up  to  the  harricane,  where 
we  stop'd  for  the  night.  In  the  morning  I  started 
about  daylight,  intending  to  kill  a  deer,  as  I  had 
no  thought  they  would  get  the  boat  through  the 
timber  that  day.  I  had  gone  but  a  little  way  be 
fore  I  killed  a  fine  buck,  and  started  to  go  back  to 
the  boat ;  but  on  the  way  I  came  on  the  tracks  of  a 
large  gang  of  elks,  and  so  I  took  after  them.  I  had 
followed  them  only  a  little  distance  when  I  saw 
them,  and  directly  after  I  saw  two  large  bucks.  I 
shot  one  down,  and  the  other  wouldn't  leave  him  ; 


152  THE 

so  I  loaded  my  gun,  and  shot  him  down  too.  I 
hung  them  up,  and  went  ahead  again  after  my  elks. 
I  pursued  on  till  after  the  middle  of  the  day  be 
fore  I  saw  them  again  ;  but  they  took  the  hint  be 
fore  I  got  in  shooting  distance,  and  run  off.  I  still 
pushed  on  till  late  in  the  evening,  when  I  found  I 
was  about  four  miles  from  where  I  had  left  the  boat, 
and  as  hungry  as  a  wolf,  for  I  hadn't  eaten  a  bite 
that  day. 

I  started  down  the  edge  of  the  river  low  grounds, 
giving  out  the  pursuit  of  my  elks,  and  hadn't  gone 
hardly  any  distance  at  all,  before  I  saw  two  more 
bucks,  very  large  fellows  too.  I  took  a  blizzard 
at  one  of  them,  and  up  he  tumbled.  The  other 
ran  off  a  few  jumps  and  stop'd  ;  and  stood  there 
till  I  loaded  again,  and  fired  at  him.  I  knock'd 
his  trotters  from  under  him,  and  then  I  hung 
them  both  up.  I  pushed  on  again  ;  and  about 
sunset  I  saw  three  other  bucks.  I  down'd  with 
one  of  them,  and  the  other  two  ran  off.  I  hung 
this  one  up  also,  having  now  killed  six  that  day. 
I  then  pushed  on  till  I  got  to  the  harricane,  and 
at  the  lower  edge  of  it,  about  where  I  expected 
the  boat  was.  Here  I  hollered  as  hard  as  I  could 
roar,  but  could  get  no  answer.  I  fired  off  my  gun, 
and  the  men  on  the  boat  fired  one  too  ;  but  quite 
contrary  to  my  expectation,  they  had  got  through 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  153 

the  timber,  and  were  about  two  miles  above  me. 
It  was  now  dark,  and  I  had  to  crawl  through 
the  fallen  timber  the  best  way  I  could  ;  and  if 
the  reader  don't  know  it  was  bad  enough,  I  am 
sure  I  do.  For  the  vines  and  briers  had  grown 
all  through  it,  and  so  thick,  that  a  good  fat  coon 
couldn't  much  more  than  get  along.  I  got 
through  at  last,  and  went  on  near  to  where  I 
had  killed  my  last  deer,  and  once  more  fired  off 
my  gun,  which  was  again  answered  from  the  boat, 
which  was  still  a  little  above  me.  I  moved  on  as 
fast  as  I  could,  but  soon  came  to  water,  and  not 
knowing  how  deep  it  was,  I  halted  and  hollered 
till  they  came  to  me  with  a  skiff.  I  no\v  got  to  the 
boat,  without  further  difficulty  ;  but  the  briers  had 
worked  on  me  at  such  a  rate,  that  I  felt  like  I 
wanted  sewing  up,  all  over.  I  took  a  pretty  stiff 
horn,  which  soon  made  me  feel  much  better  ;  but 
I  was  so  tired  that  I  could  hardly  work  my  jaws 
to  eat. 

In  the  morning,  myself  and  a  young  man  started 
and  brought  in  the  first  buck  I  had  killed  ;  and 
after  breakfast  we  went  and  brought  in  the  last 
one.  The  boat  then  started,  but  we  again  went 
and  got  the  two  I  had  killed  just  as  I  turned 
down  the  river  in  the  evening ;  and  we  then 
pushed  on  and  overtook  the  boat,  leaving  the  other 


154  THE  LIFE  OF 

two  hanging  in  the  woods,  as  we  had  now  as  much 
as  we  wanted. 

We  got  up  the  river  very  well,  but  quite 
slowly  ;  and  we  landed,  on  the  eleventh  day,  at 
the  place  the  load  was  to  be  delivered  at.  They 
here  gave  me  their  skiff,  and  myself  and  a  young 
man  by  the  name  of  Flavius  Harris,  who  had  de 
termined  to  go  and  live  with  me,  cut  out  down 
the  river  for  my  cabin,  which  we  reached  safely 
enough. 

We  turned  in  and  cleared  a  field,  and  planted 
our  corn  ;  but  it  was  so  late  in  the  spring,  we  had 
no  time  to  make  rails,  and  therefore  we  put  no 
fence  around  our  field.  There  was  no  stock,  how 
ever,  nor  any  thing  else  to  disturb  our  corn,  ex 
cept  the  wild  varments,  and  the  old  serpent  him 
self,  with  a  fence  to  help  him,  couldn't  keep  them 
out.  I  made  corn  enough  to  do  me,  and  during 
that  spring  I  killed  ten  bears,  and  a  great  abun 
dance  of  deer.  But  in  all  this  time,  we  saw  the 
face  of  no  white  person  in  that  country,  except 
Mr.  Owens'  family,  and  a  very  few  passengers, 
who  went  out  there,  looking  at  the  country.  In 
dians,  though,  were  still  plenty  enough.  Having 
laid  by  my  crap,  I  went  home,  which  was  a  dis 
tance  of  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  and 
when  I  got  there,  I  was  met  by  an  order  to  attend 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  155 

a  call-session  of  our  Legislature.  I  attended  it, 
and  served  out  my  time,  and  then  returned,  and 
took  my  family  and  what  little  plunder  I  had, 
and  moved  to  where  I  had  built  my  cabin,  and 
made  my  crap. 

I  gathered  my  corn,  and  then  set  out  for  my 
Fall's  hunt.  This  was  in  the  last  of  October,  1822. 
I  found  bear  very  plenty,  and,  indeed,  all  sorts  of 
game  and  wild  varments,  except  buffalo.  There 
was  none  of  them.  I  hunted  on  till  Christmass, 
having  supplied  my  family  very  well  all  along 
with  wild  meat,  at  which  time  my  powder  gave 
out ;  and  I  had  none  either  to  fire  Christmass  guns, 
which  is  very  common  in  that  country,  or  to  hunt 
with.  I  had  a  brother-in-law  who  had  now  moved 
out  and  settled  about  six  miles  west  of  me,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Rutherford's  fork  of  the  Obion 
river,  and  he  had  brought  me  a  keg  of  powder, 
but  I  had  never  gotten  it  home.  There  had  just 
been  another  of  Noah's  freshes,  and  the  low 
grounds  were  flooded  all  over  with  water.  I 
know'd  the  stream  was  at  least  a  mile  wide  which 
I  would  have  to  cross,  as  the  water  was  from  hill 
to  hill,  and  yet  I  determined  to  go  on  over  in  some 
way  or  other,  so  as  to  get  my  powder.  I  told  this 
to  my  wife,  and  she  immediately  opposed  it  with 
all  her  might.  I  still  insisted,  telling  her  we  had 


156  THE  LIFE  OF 

no  powder  for  Christmass,  and,  worse  than  all,  we 
were  out  of  meat.  She  said,  we  had  as  well  starve 
as  for  me  4:o  freeze  to  death  or  to  get  drowned,  and 
one  or  the  other  was  certain  if  I  attempted  to  go. 

But  I  didn't  believe  the  half  -of  this ;  and  so  I 
took  my  woolen  wrappers,  and  a  pair  of  mockasins, 
and  put  them  on,  and  tied  up  some  dry  clothes  and 
a  pair  of  shoes  and  stockings,  and  started.  But  I 
didn't  before  know  how  much  any  body  could 
suffer  and  not  die.  This,  arid  some  of  my  other 
experiments  in  water,  learned  me  something  about 
it,  and  I  therefore  relate  them. 

The  snow  was  about  four  inches  deep  when  I 
started ;  and  when  I  got  to  the  water,  which  was 
only  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  it  look'd  like  an 
ocean.  I  put  in,  and  waded  on  till  I  come  to  the 
channel,  where  I  crossed  that  on  a  high  log.  I  then 
took  water  again,  having  my  gun  and  all  my 
hunting  tools  along,  and  waded  till  I  came  to  a 
deep  slough,  that  was  wider  than  the  river  itself. 
I  had  crossed  it  often  on  a  log ;  but,  behold,  when  I 
got  there,  no  log  was  to  be  seen.  I  knowed  of  an 
island  in  the  slough,  and  a  sapling  stood  on  it 
close  to  the  side  of  that  log,  which  was  now  en 
tirely  under  water.  I  knowed  further,  that  the 
water  was  about  eight  or  ten  feet  deep  under  the 
log,  and  I  judged  it  to  be  about  three  feet  deep 


DAVID  CROCKETT,  157 

over  it.  After  studying  a  little  what  I  should  do, 
I  determined  to  cut  a  forked  sapling,  which  stood 
near  me,  so  as  to  lodge  it  against  the  one  that 
stood  on  the  island,  in  which  I  succeeded  very 
well.  I  then  cut  me  a  pole,  and  crawled  along  on 
my  sapling  till  I  got  to  the  one  it  was  lodged 
against,  which  was  about  six  feet  above  the  water. 
I  then  felt  about  with  my  pole  till  I  found  the  log, 
which  was  just  about  as  deep  under  the  water  as  I 
had  judged.  I  then  crawled  back  and  got  my 
gun,  which  I  had  left  at  the  stump  of  the  sapling  I 
had  cut,  and  again  made  my  way  to  the  place  of 
lodgement,  and  then  climb'd  down  the  other  sap 
ling  so  as  to  get  on  the  log.  I  then  felt  my  way 
along  with  my  feet,  in  the  water,  about  waist  deep, 
but  it  was  a  mighty  ticklish  business.  However, 
I  got  over,  and  by  this  time  I  had  very  little  feel 
ing  in  my  feet  and  legs,  as  I  had  been  all  the  time 
in  the  water,  except  what  time  I  was  crossing 
the  high  log  over  the  river,  and  climbing  my  lodged 
sapling. 

I  went  but  a  short  distance  before  I  came  to 
another  slough,  over  which  there  was  a  log,  but 
it  was  floating  on  the  water.  I  thought  I  could 
walk  it,  and  so  I  mounted  on  it ;  but  when  I  had 
got  about  the  middle  of  the  deep  water,  some 
how  or  somehow  else,  it  turned  over,  and  in  I 
0 


158  THE  LIFE  OF 

went  up  to  my  head  I  waded  out  of  this  deep 
water,  and  went  ahead  till  I  came  to  the  high-land, 
where  I  stop'd  to  pull  of  my  wet  clothes,  and  put 
on  the  others,  which  I  had  held  up  with  my  gun, 
above  the  water,  when  I  fell  in.  I  got  them  on, 
but  my  flesh  had  no  feeling  in  it,  I  was  so  cold. 
I  tied  up  the  wet  ones,  and  hung  them  up  in  a  bush. 
I  now  thought  I  would  run,  so  as  to  warm  myself 
a  little,  but  I  couldn't  raise  a  trot  for  some  time  ; 
indeed,  I  couldn't  step  more  than  half  the  length 
of  my  foot.  After  a  while  I  got  better,  and  went 
on  five  miles  to  the  house  of  my  brother-in-law, 
having  not  even  smelt  fire  from  the  time  I  started. 
I  got  there  late  in  the  evening,  and  he  was  much 
astonished  at  seeing  me  at  such  a  time.  I  staid 
all  night,  and  the  next  morning  was  most  pierc 
ing  cold,  and  so  they  persuaded  me  not  to  go 
home  that  day.  I  agreed,  and  turned  out  and 
killed  him  two  deer  ;  but  the  weather  still  got 
worse  and  colder,  instead  of  better.  I  staid  that 
night,  and  in  the  morning  they  still  insisted  I 
couldn't  get  home.  I  knowed  the  water  would 
be  frozen  over,  but  not  hard  enough  to  bear  me, 
and  so  I  agreed  to  stay  that  day.  I  went  out  hunt 
ing  again,  and  pursued  a  big  he-bear  all  day,  but 
didn't  kill  him.  The  next  morning  was  bitter 
cold,  but  I  knowed  my  family  was  without  meat, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  159 

and  I  determined  to  get  home  to  them,  or  die 
a- try  ing. 

I  took  my  keg  of  powder,  and  all  my  hunting 
tools,  and  cut  out.  When  I  got  to  the  water,  it 
was  a  sheet  of  ice  as  far  as  I  could  see.  I  put  on 
to  it,  but  hadn't  got  far  before  it  broke  through 
with  me  ;  and  so  I  took  out  my  tomahawk,  and 
broke  my  way  along  before  me  for  a  considerable 
distance.  At  last  I  got  to  where  the  ice  would 
bear  me  for  a  short  distance,  and  I  mounted  on  it, 
and  went  ahead  ;  but  it  soon  broke  in  again,  and 
I  had  to  wade  on  till  I  came  to  my  floating  log. 
I  found  it  so  tight  this  time,  that  I  know'd  it 
couldn't  give  me  another  fall,  as  it  was  frozen  in 
with  the  ice.  I  crossed  over  it  without  much 
difficulty,  and  worked  along  till  I  got  to  my 
lodged  sapling,  and  my  log  under  the  water. 
The  swiftness  of  the  current  prevented  the  water 
from  freezing  over  it,  and  so  I  had  to  wade,  just 
as  I  did  when  I  crossed  it  before.  When  I  got 
to  my  sapling,  I  left  my  gun  and  climbed  out  with 
my  powder  keg  first,  and  then  went  back  and  got 
my  gun.  By  this  time  I  was  nearly  frozen  to 
death,  but  I  saw  all  along  before  me,  where  the 
ice  had  been  fresh  broke,  and  I  thought  it  must 
be  a  bear  straggling  about  in  the  water.  I,  there 
fore,  fresh  primed  my  gun,  and,  cold  as  I  was,  I 


THE  LIFE  OF 

was  determined  to  make  war  on  him,  if  we  met. 
But  I  followed  the  trail  till  it  led  me  home,  and 
I  then  found  it  had  been  made  by  my  young 
man  that  lived  with  me,  who  had  been  sent  by 
my  distressed  wife  to  see,  if  he  could,  what  had 
become  of  me,  for  they  all  believed  that  I  was  dead. 
When  I  got  home  I  was'nt  quite  dead,  but  mighty 
nigh  it ;  but  I  had  my  powder,  and  that  was  what 
I  went  for. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  ]61 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THAT  night  there  fell  a  heavy  rain,  and  it 
turned  to  a  sleet.  In  the  morning  all  hands 
turned  out  hunting.  My  young  man,  and  a 
brother-in-law  who  had  lately  settled  close  by 
me,  went  down  the  river  to  hunt  for  turkeys  ; 
but  I  was  for  larger  game.  I  told  them,  I  had 
dreamed  the  night  before  of  having  a  hard  fight 
with  a  big  black  nigger,  and  I  knowed  it  was  a 
sign  that  I  was  to  have  a  battle  with  a  bear  ;  for 
in  a  bear  country,  I  never  know'd  such  a  dream 
to  fail.  So  I  started  to  go  up  above  the  harricane, 
determined  to  have  a  bear.  I  had  two  pretty 
good  dogs,  and  an  old  hound,  all  of  which  I  took 
along.  I  had  gone  about  six  miles  up  the  river, 
and  it  was  then  about  four  miles  across  to  the 
main  Obion  ;  so  I  determined  to  strike  across  to 
that,  as  I  had  found  nothing  yet  to  kill.  I  got  on 
to  the  river,  and  turned  down  it ;  but  the  sleet 
was  still  getting  worse  and  worse.  The  bushes 
were  all  bent  down,  and  locked  together  with  ice, 
02 


162  THE  LIFE  OF 

so  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  along.  In 
a  little  time  my  dogs  started  a  large  gang  of  old 
turkey  goblers,  and  I  killed  two  of  them,  of  the 
biggest  sort.  I  shouldered  them  up,  and  moved 
on,  until  I  got  through  the  harricane,  when  I  was 
so  tired  that  I  laid  my  goblers  down  to  rest,  as  they 
were  confounded  heavy,  and  I  was  mighty  tired. 
While  I  was  resting,  my  old  hound  went  to  a  log, 
and  smelt  it  awhile,  and  then  raised  his  eyes  to 
ward  the  sky,  and  cried  out.  Away  he  went, 
and  my  other  dogs  with  him,  and  I  shouldered  up 
my  turkeys  again,  and  followed  on  as  hard  as  I 
could  drive.  They  were  soon  out  of  sight,  and 
in  a  very  little  time  I  heard  them  begin  to  bark. 
When  I  got  to  them,  they  were  barking  up  a  tree, 
but  there  was  no  game  there.  I  concluded  it  had 
been  a  turkey,  and  that  it  had  flew  away. 

When  they  saw  me  coming,  away  they  went 
again  ;  and,  after  a  little  time,  began  to  bark  as 
before.  When  I  got  near  them,  I  found  they 
were  barking  up  the  wrong  tree  again,  as  there 
was  no  game  there.  They  served  me  in  this  way 
three  or  four  times,  until  I  was  so  infernal  mad, 
that  I  determined,  if  I  could  get  near  enough,  to 
shoot  the  old  hound  at  least.  With  this  intention 
I  pushed  on  the  harder,  till  I  came  to  the  edge  of 
an  open  parara,  and  looking  on  before  my  dogs,  I 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  163. 

saw  in  and  about  the  biggest  bear  that  ever  was 
seen  in  America.  He  looked,  at  the  distance  he 
was  from  me,  like  a  large  black  bull.  My  dogs 
were  afraid  to  attack  him,  and  that  was  the  reason 
they  had  stop'd  so  often,  that  I  might  overtake 
them.  They  were  now  almost  up  with  him,  and 
I  took  my  goblers  from  my  back  and  hung  them 
up  in  a  sapling,  and  broke  like  a  quarter  horse 
after  my  bear,  for  the  sight  of  him  had  put  new 
springs  in  me.  I  soon  got  near  to  them,  but  they 
were  just  getting  into  a  roaring  thicket,  and  so  I 
couldn't  run  through  it,  but  had  to  pick  my  way 
along,  and  had  close  work  even  at  that. 

In  a  little  time  I  saw  the  bear  climbing  up  a 
large  black  oak-tree,  and  I  crawled  on  till  I  got 
within  about  eighty  yards  of  him.  He  was  setting 
with  his  breast  to  me  ;  and  so  I  put  fresh  priming 
in  my  gun,  and  fired  at  him.  At  this  he  raised 
one  of  his  paws  and  snorted  loudly.  I  loaded 
again  as  quick  as  I  could,  and  fired  as  near  the 
same  place  in  his  breast  as  possible.  At  the 
crack  of  my  gun  here  he  came  tumbling  down  ; 
and  the  moment  he  touched  the  ground,  I  heard 
one  of  my  best  dogs  cry  out  I  took  my  toma 
hawk  in  one  hand,  and  my  big  butcher-knife  in 
the  other,  and  run  up  within  four  or  five  paces  of 
him,  at  which  he  let  my  dog  go,  and  fixed  his 


•164  THE  LIFE  OP 

eyes  on  me.  I  got  back  in  all  sorts  of  a  hurry, 
for  I  know'd  if  he  got  hold  of  me,  he  would  hug 
me  altogether  too  close  for  comfort.  I  went  to 
my  gun  and  hastily  loaded  her  again,  and  shot 
him  the  third  time,  which  killed  him  good. 

I  now  began  to  think  about  getting  him  home, 
but  I  didn't  know  how  far  it  was.  So  I  left  him 
and  started  ;  and  in  order  to  find  him  again,  I 
would  blaze  a  sapling  every  little  distance,  which 
would  show  me  the  way  back.  I  continued  this 
till  I  got  within  about  a  mile  of  home,  for  there  I 
know'd  very  well  where  I  was,  and  that  I  could 
easily  find  the  way  back  to  my  blazes.  When  I  got 
home,  I  took  my  brother-in-law,  and  my  young 
man,  and  four  horses,  and  went  back.  We  got 
there  just  before  dark,  and  struck  up  a  fire,  and 
commenced  butchering  my  bear.  It  was  some 
time  in  the  night  before  we  finished  it ;  and  I 
can  assert,  on  my  honour,  that  I  believe  he  would 
have  weighed  six  hundred  pounds.  It  was  the 
second  largest  I  ever  saw.  I  killed  one,  a  few 
years  after,  that  weighed  six  hundred  and  seven 
teen  pounds.  I  now  felt  fully  compensated  for 
my  sufferings  in  going  after  my  powder  ;  and  well 
satisfied  that  a  dog  might  sometimes  be  doing  a 
good  business,  even  when  he  seemed  to  be  bark 
ing  up  the  wrong  tree.  We  got  our  meat  home, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  165 

and  I  had  the  pleasure  to  know  that  we  now  had 
plenty,  and  that  of  the  best  ;  and  I  continued 
through  the  winter  to  supply  my  family  abun 
dantly  with  bear-meat  and  venison  from  the 
woods. 


L66  THE  LIFE  OF 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

I  HAD  on  hand  a  great  many  skins,  and  so,  in  the 
month  of  February,  I  packed  a  horse  with  them, 
and  taking  my  eldest  son  along  with  me,  cut  out 
for  a  little  town  called  Jackson,  situated  about 
forty  miles  off.  We  got  there  well  enough,  and 
I  sold  my  skins,  and .  bought  me  some  coffee,  and 
sugar,  powder,  lead,  and  salt.  I  packed  them  all 
up  in  readiness  for  a  start,  which  I  intended  to 
make  early  the  next  morning.  Morning  came, 
but  I  concluded,  before  I  started,  I  would  go  and 
take  a  horn  with  some  of  my  old  fellow-soldiers 
that  I  had  met  with  at  Jackson. 

I  did  so  ;  and  while  we  were  engaged  in  this, 
I  met  with  three  candidates  for  the  Legislature ; 
a  Doctor  Butler,  who  was,  by  marriage,  a  ne 
phew  to  General  Jackson,  a  Major  Lynn,  and  a 
Mr.  McEver,  all  first-rate  men.  We  all  took  a 
horn  together,  and  some  person  present  said  to  me, 
"  Crockett,  you  must  offer  for  the  Legislature."  I 
told  him  I  lived  at  least  forty  miles  from  any 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  167 

white  settlement,  and  had  no  thought  of  becom 
ing  a  candidate  at  that  time.  So  we  all  parted, 
and  I  and  my  little  boy  went  on  home. 

It  was  about  a  week  or  two  after  this,  that  a 
man  came  to  my  house,  and  told  me  I  was  a  can 
didate.  I  told  him  not  so.  But  he  took  out  a 
newspaper  from  his  pocket,  and  showM  me 
where  I  was  announced.  I  said  to  my  wife  that 
this  was  all  a  burlesque  on  me,  but  I  was  de 
termined  to  make  it  cost  the  man  who  had  put 
it  there  at  least  the  value  of  the  printing,  and  of 
the  fun  he  wanted  at  my  expense.  So  I  hired 
a  young  man  to  work  in  my  place  on  my  farm, 
and  turned  out  myself  electioneering.  I  hadn't 
been  out  long,  before  I  found  the  people  be 
gan  to  talk  very  much  about  the  bear  hunter,  the 
man  from  the  cane  ;  and  the  three  gentlemen, 
wrho  I  have  already  named,  soon  found  it  ne 
cessary  to  enter  into  an  agreement  to  have  a 
sort  of  caucus  at  their  March  court,  to  deter-  • 
mine  which  of  them  was  the  strongest,  and 
the  other  two  was  to  withdraw  and  support 
him.  As  the  court  came  on,  each  one  of  them 
spread  himself,  to  secure  the  nomination  ;  but 
it  fell  on  Dr.  Butler,  and  the  rest  backed  out. 
The  doctor  was  a  clever  fellow,  and  I  have 
often  said  he  was  the  most  talented  man  I  ever 


168  THE  LIFE  °F 

run  against  for  any  office.  His  being  related  to 
Gen'l.  Jackson  also  helped  him  on  very  much;  but 
I  was  in  for  it,  and  I  was  determined  to  push 
ahead  and  go  through,  or  stick.  Their  meeting 
was  held  in  Madison  county,  which  was  the 
strongest  in  the  representative  district,  which  was 
composed  of  eleven  counties,  and  they  seemed 
bent  on  having  the  member  from  there. 

At  this  time  Col.  Alexander  was  a  candidate  for 
Congress,  and  attending  one  of  his  public  meetings 
one  day,  I  walked  to  where  he  was  treating  the 
people,  and  he  gave  me  an  introduction  to  several 
of  his  acquaintances,  and  informed  them  that  I  was 
out  electioneering.  In  a  little  time  my  competi 
tor,  Doctor  Butler,  came  along  ;  he  passed  by 
without  noticing  me,  and  I  suppose,  indeed,  he  did 
not  recognise  me.  But  I  hailed  him,  as  I  was  for 
all  sorts  of  fun  ;  and  when  he  turned  to  me,  I  said 
to  him,  "  Well,  doctor,  I  suppose  they  have  weigh 
ed  you  out  to  me  ;  but  I  should  like  to  know  why 
they  fixed  your  election  for  March  instead  of  Au 
gust  ?  This  is,"  said  I,  "  a  branfire  new  way  of  do 
ing  business,  if  a  caucus  is  to  make  a  representative 
for  the  people!"  He  now  discovered  who  I  was, 
and  cried  out, "  D— n  it,  Crockett,  is  that  you  ?"— 
"  Be  sure  it  is,"  said  I, "  but  I  don't  want  it  under 
stood  that  I  have  come  electioneering.  I  have  just 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

crept  out  of  the  cane,  to  see  what  discoveries  I  could 
make  among  the  white  folks."  I  told  him  that 
when  I  set  out  electioneering,  I  would  go  prepared 
to  put  every  man  on  as  good  footing  when  I  left 
him  as  I  found  him  on.  I  would  therefore  have 
me  a  large  buckskin  hunting-shirt  made,  with  a 
couple  of  pockets  holding  about  a  peck  each  ; 
and  that  in  one  I  would  carry  a  great  big 
twist  of  tobacco,  and  in  the  other  my  bottle  of  li 
quor  ;  for  I  knowed  when  I  met  a  man  and  offered 
him  a  dram,  he  would  throw  out  his  quid  of  to 
bacco  to  take  one,  and  after  he  had  taken  his  horn, 
I  would  out  with  my  twist  and  give  him  another 
chaw.  And  in  this  way  he  would  not  be  worse 
off  than  when  I  found  him  ;  and  I  would  be  sure 
to  leave  him  in  a  first-rate  good  humour.  He  said 
I  could  beat  him  electioneering  all  hollow.  I  told 
him  I  would  give  him  better  evidence  of  that  be 
fore  August,  notwithstanding  he  had  many  advan 
tages  over  me,  and  particularly  in  the  way  of  mo 
ney  ;  but  I  told  him  that  I  would  go  on  the  pro 
ducts  of  the  country;  that  I  had  industrious  chil 
dren,  and  the  best  of  coon  dogs,  and  they  would 
hunt  every  night  till  midnight  to  support  my  elec 
tion  ;  and  when  the  coon  fur  wa'n't  good,  I  would 
myself  go  a  wolfing,  and  shoot  down  a  wolf,  and 
skin  his  head,  and  his  scalp  would  be  good  to  me 
P 


170  THE 

for  three  dollars,  in  our  state  treasury  money  ;  ana 
in  this  way  I  would  get  along  on  the  big  string. 
He  stood  like  he  was  both  amused  and  astonished, 
and  the  whole  crowd  was  in  a  roar  of  laughter. 
From  this  place  I  returned  home,  leaving  the  peo 
ple  in  a  first-rate  way  ;  and  I  was  sure  I  would 
do  a  good  business  among  them.  At  any  rate,  I 
was  determined  to  stand  up  to  my  lick-log,  salt  or 
no  salt. 

In  a  short  time  there  came  out  two  other  candi 
dates,  a  Mr.  Shaw  and  a  Mr.  Brown.  We  all  ran 
the  race  through;  and  when  the  election  was  over, 
it  turned  out  that  I  beat  them  all  by  a  majority  of 
two  hundred  and  forty-seven  votes,  and  was  again 
returned  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  a 
new  region  of  the  country,  without  losing  a  ses 
sion.  This  reminded  me  of  the  old  saying — "  A 
fool  for  luck,  and  a  poor  man  for  children." 

I  now  served  two  years  in  that  body  from  my 
new  district,  which  was  the  years  1823  and  '24. 
At  the  session  of  1823,  I  had  a  small  trial  of  my 
independence,  and  whether  I  would  forsake  prin 
ciple  for  party,  or  for  the  purpose  of  following 
after  big  men. 

The  term  of  Col.  John  Williams  had  expired,  who 
was  a  senator  in  Congress  from  the  state  of  Ten 
nessee.  He  was  a  candidate  for  another  election, 


DAVID   CROCKETT. 

and  was  opposed  by  Pleasant  M.  Miller,  Esq., 
who,  it  was  believed,  would  not  be  able  to  beat 
the  colonel.  Some  two  or  three  others  were 
spoken  of,  but  it  was  at  last  concluded  that  the  only 
man  who  could  beat  him  was  the  present  "  go 
vernment,"  General  Jackson.  So,  a  few  days  be 
fore  the  election  was  to  come  on,  he  was  sent  for 
to  come  and  run  for  the  senate.  He  was  then  in 
nomination  for  the  presidency :  but  sure  enough 
he  came,  and  did  run  as  the  opponent  of  Colonel 
Williams,  and  beat  him  too,  but  not  by  my  vote. 
The  vote  was,  for  Jackson,  thirty-jive, ;  for  Wil 
liams,  twenty-five.  I  thought  the  colcael  had 
honestly  discharged  his  duty,  and  even  the  mighty 
name  of  Jackson  couldn't  make  me  vote  against 
him. 

But  voting  against  the  old  chief  was  found  a 
mighty  up-hill  business  to  all  of  them  except  my 
self.  I  never  would,  nor  never  did,  acknowledge 
I  had  voted  wrong ;  and  I  am  more  certain  now 
that  I  was  right  than  ever. 

I  told  the  people  it  was  the  best  vote  I  ever 
gave ;  that  I  had  supported  the  public  interest,  and 
cleared  my  conscience  in  giving  it,  instead  of 
gratifying  the  private  ambitionBSf  a  man. 

I  let  the  people  know  as  early  as  then,  that  I 


172  THE  LIFE  OF 

wouldn't  take  a  collar  around  my  neck  with  the 
letters  engraved  on  it, 


MY  DOG. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


During  these  two  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  no 
thing  else  turned  up  which  I  think  it  worth  while 
to  mention  ;  and,  indeed,  I  am  fearful  that  I  am 
too  particular  about  many  small  matters ;  but  if  so, 
my  apology  is,  that  I  want  the  world  to  under 
stand  my  true  history,  and  how  I  worked  along 
to  rise  from  a  cane-brake  to  my  present  station 
in  life. 

Col.  Alexander  was  the  representative  in  Con 
gress  of  the  district  I  lived  in,  and  his  vote  on  the 
tariff  law  of  1824  gave  a  mighty  heap  of  dissatis 
faction  to  his  people.  They  therefore  began  to 
talk  pretty  strong  of  running  me  for  Congress 
against  him.  At  last  I  was  called  on  by  a  good 
many  to  be  a  candidate.  I  told  the  people  that  I 
couldn't  stand  that;  it  was  a  step  above  my  know 
ledge,  and  I  kaow'd  nothing  about  Congress 
matters. 

However,  I  was  obliged  to  agree  to  run,  and  my 
self  and  two  other  gentlemen  came  out.  But  Pro 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  173 

vidence  was  a  little  against  two  of  us  this  hunt,  for  it 
was  the  year  that  cotton  brought  twenty-five  dollars 
a  hundred  ;  and  so  Colonel  Alexander  would  get 
up  and  tell  the  people,  it  was  all  the  good  effect  of 
this  tariff  law  ;  that  it  had  raised  the  price  of  their 
cotton,  and  that  it  would  raise  the  price  of  every 
thing  else  they  made  to  sell.  I  might  as  well  have 
sung  salms  over  a  dead  horse,  as  to  try  to  make 
the  people  believe  otherwise  ;  for  they  knowed 
their  cotton  had  raised,  sure  enough,  and  if  the 
colonel  hadn't  done  it,  they  didn't  know  what 
had.  So  he  rather  made  a  mash  of  me  this  time, 
as  he  beat  me  exactly  two  votes,  as  they  counted 
the  polls,  though  I  have  always  believed  that  many 
other  things  had  been  as  fairly  done  as  that  same 
count. 

He  went  on,  and  served  out  his  term,  and  at 
the  end  of  it  cotton  was  down  to  six  or  eight 
dollars  a  hundred  again  ;  and  I  concluded  I  would 
try  him  once  more,  and  see  how  it  would  go 
with  cotton  at  the  common  price,  and  so  I  became 
a  candidate. 


174  THE  LIFE  OF 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

BUT  the  reader,  I  expect,  would  have  no  objec 
tion  to  know  a  little  about  my  employment  during 
the  two  years  while  my  competitor  was  in  Con 
gress.  In  this  space  I  had  some  pretty  tuff  times, 
and  will  relate  some  few  things  that  happened  to 
me.  So  here  goes,  as  the  boy  said  when  he  run 
by  himself. 

In  the  fall  of  1825,  I  concluded  I  would  build 
two  large  boats,  and  load  them  with  pipe  staves 
for  market.  So  I  went  down  to  the  lake,  which 
was  about  twenty-five  miles  from  where  I  lived, 
and  hired  some  hands  to  assist  me,  and  went  to 
work  ;  some  at  boat  building,  and  others  to  get 
ting  staves.  I  worked  on  with  my  hands  till  the 
bears  got  fat,  and  then  I  turned  out  to  hunting,  to 
iay  in  a  supply  of  meat.  I  soon  killed  and  salted 
down  as  many  as  were  necessary  for  my  family ; 
but  about  this  time  one  of  my  old  neighbours,  who 
had  settled  down  on  the  lake  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  me,  came  to  my  house  and  told  me 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

he  wanted  me  to  go  clown  and  kill  some  bears 
about  in  his  parts.  He  said  they  were  extremely 
fat,  and  very  plenty.  I  know'd  that  when  they 
were  fat,  they  were  easily  taken,  for  a  fat  bear 
can't  run  fast  or  long.  But  I  asked  a  bear  no  fa 
vours,  no  way,  further  than  civility,  for  I  now 
had  eight  large  dogs,  and  as  fierce  as  painters  ; 
so  that  a  bear  stood  no  chance  at  all  to  get  away 
from  them.  So  I  went  home  with  him,  and  then 
went  on  down  towards  the  Mississippi,  and  com 
menced  hunting. 

We  were  out  two  weeks,  and  in  that  time  killed 
fifteen  bears.  Having  now  supplied  my  friend 
with  plenty  of  meat,  I  engaged  occasionally  again 
with  my  hands  in  our  boat  building,  and  getting 
staves.  But  I  at  length  couldn't  stand  it  any 
longer  without  another  hunt.  So  I  concluded  to 
take  my  little  son,  and  cross  over  the  lake,  and 
take  a  hunt  there.  We  got  over,  and  that  evening 
turned  out  and  killed  three  bears,  in  little  or  no 
time.  The  next  morning  we  drove  up  four  forks, 
and  made  a  sort  of  scaffold,  on  which  we  salted 
up  our  meat,  so  as  to  have  it  out  of  the  reach  of 
the  wolves,  for  as  soon  as  we  would  leave  our 
camp,  they  would  take  possession.  We  had  just 
eat  our  breakfast,  when  a  company  of  hunters 
came  to  our  camp,  who  had  fourteen  dogs,  but  all 


176  THE  LIFE  OF 

so  poor,  that  when  they  would  bark  they  would 
almost  have  to  lean  up  against  a  tree  and  take 
a  rest.  I  told  them  their  dogs  couldn't  run  in 
smell  of  a  bear,  and  they  had  better  stay  at  my 
camp,  and  feed  them  on  the  bones  I  had  cut  out 
of  my  meat.  I  left  them  there,  and  cut  out  ;  but 
I  hadn't  gone  far,  when  my  dogs  took  a  first-rate 
start  after  a  very  large  fat  old  he-bear ',  which  run 
right  plump  towards  my  camp.  I  pursued  on, 
but  my  other  hunters  had  heard  my  dogs  coming, 
and  met  them,  and  killed  the  bear  before  I  got  up 
with  him.  I  gave  him  to  them,  and  cut  out  again 
for  a  creek  called  Big  Clover,  which  wa'n't  very 
far  off.  Just  as  I  got  there,  and  was  entering  a 
cane  brake,  my  dogs  all  broke  and  went  ahead, 
and,  in  a  little  time,  they  raised  a  fuss  in  the  cane, 
and  seemed  to  be  going  every  way.  I  listened  a 
while,  and  found  my  dogs  was  in  two  companies, 
and  that  both  was  in  a  snorting  fight.  I  sent  my 
little  son  to  one,  and  I  broke  for  t'other.  I  got  to 
mine  first,  and  found  my  dogs  had  a  two-year-old 
bear  down,  a-wooling  away  on  him ;  so  I  just 
took  out  my  big  butcher,  and  went  up  and  slap'd 
it  into  him,  and  killed  him  without  shooting. 
There  was  five  of  the  dogs  in  my  company.  In 
a  short  time,  I  heard  my  little  son  fire  at  his  bear; 
when  I  went  to  him  he  had  killed  it  too.  He 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  177 

had  two  dogs  in  his  team.  Just  at  this  moment 
we  heard  my  other  dog  barking  a  short  distance 
off,  and  all  the  rest  immediately  broke  to  him. 
We  pushed  on  too,  and  when  we  got  there,  we 
found  he  had  still  a  larger  bear  than  either  of  them 
we  had  killed,  treed  by  himself.  We  killed  that 
one  also,  which  made  three  we  had  killed  in  less 
than  half  an  hour.  We  turned  in  and  butchered 
them,  and  then  started  to  hunt  for  water,  and  a 
good  place  to  camp.  But  we  had  no  sooner 
started,  than  our  dogs  took  a  start  after  another 
one,  and  away  they  went  like  a  thunder-gust,  and 
was  out  of  hearing  in  a  minute.  We  followed  the 
way  they  had  gone  for  some  time,  but  at  length 
we  gave  up  the  hope  of  finding  them,  and  turned 
back.  As  we  were  going  back,  I  came  to  where 
a  poor  fellow  was  grubbing,  and  he  looked  like 
the  very  picture  of  hard  times.  I  asked  him 
what  he  was  doing  away  there  in  the  woods  by 
himself  ?  He  said  he  was  grubbing  for  a  man  who 
intended  to  settle  there  ;  and  the  reason  why  he 
did  it  was,  that  he  had  no  meat  for  his  family, 
and  he  was  working  for  a  little. 

I  was  mighty  sorry  for  the  poor  fellow,  for 
it  was  not  only  a  hard,  but  a  very  slow  way  to 
get  meat  for  a  hungry  family  ;  so  I  told  him  if  he 
would  go  with  me,  I  would  give  him  more  meat 


178  THE  LIFE  OF 

than  he  could  get  by  grubbing  in  a  month.     I  in 
tended  to  supply  him  with  meat,  and  also  to  get 
him  to  assist  my  little  boy  in  packing  in  and  salt 
ing  up  my  bears.     He  had  never  seen  a  bear  kill 
ed  in  his  life.     1  told  him  I  had  six  killed  then, 
and  my  dogs  were  hard  after  another.     He  went 
off  to  his  little  cabin,  which  was  a  short  distance 
in  the  brush,  and  his  wife  was  very  anxious  he 
should  go  with  me.     So  we  started  and  went  to 
where  I  had  left  my  three  bears,  and  made  a  camp. 
We  then  gathered  my  meat  and  salted,  and  scaf- 
fled  it,  as  I  had  done  the  other.     Night  now  came 
on,  but  no  word  from  my  dogs  yet.     I  afterwards 
found  they  had  treed  the  bear  about  five  miles 
off,  near  to  a  man's  house,  and  had  barked  at  it 
the  whole  enduring  night.     Poor  fellows  !  many 
a  time  they  looked  for  me,  and  wondered  why  I 
didn't  come,  for  they  knowed  there  was  no  mis 
take  in  me,  and  I  know'd  they  were  as  good  as 
ever  fluttered.     In  the  morning,  as  soon  as  it  was 
light  enough  to  see,  the  man  took  his  gun  and 
went  to  them,  and  shot  the  bear,  and  killed  it.   My 
dogs,  however,  wouldn't  have  any  thing  to  say  to 
this  stranger  ;  so  they  left  him,  and  came  early  in 
the  morning  back  to  me. 

We  got  our  breakfast,  and  cut  out  again  ;  and 
we  killed  four  large  and  very  fat  bears  that  day. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  179 

We  hunted  out  the  week,  and   in  that  time  we 
killed    seventeen,  all  of  them  first-rate.     When 
we   closed    our   hunt,    I    gave  the    man    over    a 
thousand    weight   of   fine    fat   bear-meat,   which 
pleased    him    mightily,    and    made    him    feel  as 
rich  as  a  Jew.     I  saw  him  the  next  fall,  and  he 
told  me  he  had  plenty  of  meat  to  do  him  the 
whole  year  from  his  week's  hunt.     My  son  and 
me  now  went  home.     This  was  the  week  between 
Christmass  and  New-year  that  we  made  this  hunt. 
When  I  got  home,  one  of  my  neighbours  was 
out   of   meat,  and   wanted   me  to  go  back,   and 
let   him  go  with  me,  to  take  another  hunt.     I 
couldn't  refuse  ;  but  I  told  him  I  was  afraid  the 
bear  had  taken  to  house   by  that  time,  for  after 
they  get  very  fat  in  the  fall  and  early  part  of  the 
winter,  they  go  into  their  holes,  in  large  hollow 
trees,  or  into  hollow  logs,  or  their  cane-houses, 
or  the  harricanes  ;   and  lie  there  till  spring,  like 
frozen  snakes.     And   one  thing  about    this  will 
seem  mighty    strange   to   many   people.      Fronr 
about  the   first  of  January  to  about   the  last  of 
April,  these  varments  lie  in  their  holes  altogether. 
In  all  that  time  they  have  no  food  to  eat  ;  and  yet 
when  they  come  out,  they  are  not  an  ounce  lighter 
than  when  they  went  to  house.     I  don't  know  the 
cause  of  this,  and  still  I  know  it  is  a  fact  j  and  I 


180  THE  LIFE  OF 

leave  it  for  others  who  have  more  learning  than 
myself  to  account  for  it.  They  have  not  a  particle 
of  food  with  them,  but  they  just  lie  and  suck  the 
bottom  of  their  paw  all  the  time.  I  have  killed 
many  of  them  in  their  trees,  which  enables  me  to 
speak  positively  on  this  subject.  However,  my 
neighbour,  whose  name  was  McDaniel,  and  my 
little  son  and  me,  went  on  down  to  the  lake  to 
my  second  camp,  where  I  had  killed  my  seventeen 
bears  the  week  before,  and  turned  out  to  hunting. 
But  we  hunted  hard  all  day  without  getting  a  sin 
gle  start.  We  had  carried  but  little  provisions  with 
us,  and  the  next  morning  was  entirely  out  of  meat. 
I  sent  my  son  about  three  miles  off,  to  the  house 
of  an  old  friend,  to  get  some.  The  old  gentleman 
was  much  pleased  to  hear  I  was  hunting  in  those 
parts,  for  the  year  before  the  bears  had  killed  a 
great  many  of  his  hogs.  He  was  that  day  killing 
his  bacon  hogs,  and  so  he  gave  my  son  some  meat, 
and  sent  word  to  me  that  I  must  come  in  to  his 
house  that  evening,  that  he  would  have  plenty  of 
feed  for  my  dogs,  and  some  accommodations  for 
ourselves  ;  but  before  my  son  got  back,  we  had 
gone  out  hunting,  and  in  a  large  cane  brake  my 
dogs  found  a  big  bear  in  a  cane-house,  which  he 
had  fixed  for  his  wr inter-quarters,  as  they  some 
times  do. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  181 

When  my  lead  dog  found  him,  and  raised 
the  yell,  all  the  rest  broke  to  him,  but  none  of 
them  entered  his  house  until  we  got  up.  I  en 
couraged  my  dogs,  and  they  knowed  me  so  well, 
that  I  could  have  made  them  seize  the  old  serpent 
himself,  with  all  his  horns  and  heads,  and  cloven 
foot  and  ugliness  into  the  bargain,  if  he  would 
only  have  come  to  light,  so  that  they  could  have 
seen  him.  They  bulged  in,  and  in  an  instant  the 
bear  followed  them  out,  and  I  told  my  friend  to 
shoot  him,  as  he  was  mighty  wrathy  to  kill  a  bear. 
He  did  so,  and  killed  him  prime.  We  carried  him 
to  our  camp,  by  which  time  my  son  had  returned ; 
and  after  we  got  our  dinners  we  packed  up,  and 
cut  for  the  house  of  my  old  friend,  whose  name 
was  Davidson. 

We  got  there,  and  staid  with  him  that  night ; 
and  the  next  morning,  having  salted  up  our  meat, 
we  left  it  with  him,  and  started  to  take  a  hunt  be 
tween  the  Obion  lake  and  the  Red-foot  lake  ;  as 
there  had  been  a  dreadful  harricane,  which  passed 
between  them,  and  I  was  sure  there  must  be  a 
heap  of  bears  in  the  fallen  timber.  We  had  gone 
about  five  miles  without  seeing  any  sign  at  all ; 
but  at  length  we  got  on  some  high  cany  ridges, 
and,  as  we  ro'le  along,  I  saw  a  hole  in  a  large 
black  oak,  and  on  examining  more  closely,  I  dis- 

Q 


182  THE  LIFE  OF 

covered  that  a  bear  had  clomb  the  tree.  I  could 
see  his  tracks  going  up,  but  none  coming  down, 
and  so  I  was  sure  he  was  in  there.  A  person  who  is 
acquainted  with  bear-hunting,  can  tell  easy  enough 
when  the  varment  is  in  the  hollow  ;  for  as  they 
go  up  they  don't  slip  a  bit,  but  as  they  come  down 
they  make  long  scratches  with  their  nails. 

My  friend  was  a  little  ahead  of  me,  but  I  called 
him  back,  and  told  him  there  was  a  bear  in  that 
tree,  and  I  must  have  him  out.  So  we  lit  from 
our  horses,  and  I  found  a  small  tree  which  I 
thought  I  could  fall  so  as  to  lodge  against  my  bear 
tree,  and  we  fell  to  work  chopping  it  with  our 
tomahawks.  I  intended,  when  we  lodged  the  tree 
against  the  other,  to  let  my  little  son  go  up,  and 
look  into  the  hole,  for  he  could  climb  like  a  squir 
rel.  We  had  chop'd  on  ajittle  time  and  stop'd  to 
rest,  when  I  heard  my  dogs  barking  mighty  se 
vere  at  some  distance  from  us,  and  I  told  my  friend 
I  knowed  they  had  a  bear  ;  for  it  is  the  nature 
of  a  dog,  when  he  finds  you  are  hunting  bears, 
to  hunt  for  nothing  else  ;  he  becomes  fond  of  the 
meat,  and  considers  other  game  as  "  not  worth  a 
notice,"  as  old  Johnson  said  of  the  devil. 

We  concluded  to  leave  our  tree  a  bit,  and  went 
to  my  dogs,  and  when  we  got  there,  sure  enough 
they  had  an  eternal  great  big  fat  bear  up  a  tres, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  JQ3 

just  ready  for  shooting.  My  friend  again  peti 
tioned  me  for  liberty  to  shoot  this  one  also.  I  had 
a  little  rather  not,  as  the  bear  was  so  big,  but  I 
couldn't  refuse  ;  and  so  he  blazed  away,  and  down 
came  the  old  fellow  like  some  great  log  had  fell. 
I  now  missed  one  of  my  dogs,  the  same  that  I  be 
fore  spoke  of  as  having  treed  the  bear  by  himself 
sometime  before,  when  I  had  started  the  three  in 
the  cane  break.  I  told  my  friend  that  my  missing 
dog  had  a  bear  somewhere,  just  as  sure  as  fate  ;  so 
I  left  them  to  butcher  the  one  we  had  just  killed, 
and  I  went  up  on  a  piece  of  high  ground  to  listen 
for  my  dog.  I  heard  him  barking  with  all  his 
might  some  distance  off,  and  I  pushed  ahead  for 
him.  My  other  dogs  hearing  him  broke  to  him, 
and  vrhen  I  got  there,  sure  enough  again  he  had 
another  bear  ready  treed  ;  if  he  hadn't,  I  wish 
I  may  be  shot.  I  fired  on  him,  and  brought 
him  down ;  and  then  went  back,  and  help'd 
finish  butchering  the  one  at  which  I  had  left 
my  friend.  We  then  packed  both  to  our  tree 
where  we  had  left  my  boy.  By  this  time,  the  lit 
tle  fellow  had  cut  the  tree  down  that  we  intended 
to  lodge,  but  it  fell  the  wrong  way  j  he  had  then 
feather'd  in  on  the  big  tree,  to  cut  that,  and  had 
found  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  shell  on  the  out 
side,  and  all  doted  in  the  middle,  as  too  many  of 


184  THE  LIFE  OF 

our  big  men  are  in  these  days,  having  only  an  out 
side  appearance.  My  friend  and  my  son  cut  away 
on  it,  and  I  went  off  about  a  hundred  yards  with 
my  dogs  to  keep  them  from  running  under  the 
tree  when  it  should  fall.  On  looking  back  at  the 
hole,  I  saw  the  bear's  head  out  of  it,  looking  down 
at  them  as  they  were  cutting.  I  hollered  to  them 
to  look  up,  and  they  did  so  ;  and  McDaniel  catch- 
ed  up  his  gun,  but  by  this  time  the  bear  was  out, 
and  coming  down  the"  tree.  He  fired  at  it,  and  as 
soon  as  it  touch'd  ground  the  dogs  were  all  round 
it,  and  they  had  a  roll-and-tumble  fight  to  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  where  they  stop'd  him.  I  ran  up,  and 
putting  my  gun  against  the  bear,  fired  and  killed 
him.  We  now  had  three,  and  so  we  made  our 
scaffold  and  salted  them  up. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  135 


QHAPTER  XV. 

' 

IN  the  morning  I  left  my  son  at  the  camp,  and 
we  started  on  towards  the  harricane  ;  and  when 
we  had  went  about  a  mile,  we  started  a  very  large 
bear,  but  we  got  along  mighty  slow  on  account  of 
the  cracks  in  the  earth  occasioned  by  the  earth 
quakes.  We,  however,  made  out  to  keep  in  hear 
ing  of  the  dogs  for  about  three  miles,  and  then 
we  come  to  the  harricane.  Here  we  had  to  quit 
our  horses,  as  old  Nick  himself  couldn't  have  got 
through  it  without  sneaking  it  along  in  the  form 
that  he  put  on,  to  make  a  fool  of  our  old  grand 
mother  Eve.  By  this  time  several  of  my  dogs 
had  got  tired  and  come  back  ;  but  we  went  ahead 
on  foot  for  some  little  time  in  the  harricane,  when 
we  met  a  bear  coming  straight  to  us,  and  not 
more  than  twenty  or  thirty  yards  off.  I  started 
my  tired  dogs  after  him,  and  McDaniel  pursued 
them,  and  I  went  on  to  where  my  other  dogs 
were.  I  had  seen  the  track  of  the  bear  they  were" 
after,  and  I  knowed  he  was  a  screamer.  I  fol- 
Q2 


186  THE  LIFE  °F 

lowed  on  to  about  the  middle  of  the  harncane  ; 
but  my  dogs  pursued  him  so  close,  that  they  made 
him  climb  an  old  stump  about  twenty  feet  high. 
I  got  in  shooting  distance  of  him  and  fired,  but 
I  was  all  over  in  such  a  flutter  from  fatigue  and 
running,  that  I  couldn't  hold  steady  ;  but,  how 
ever,  I  broke  his  shoulder,  and  he  fell.  I  run  up 
and  loaded  my  gun  as  quick  as  possible,  and  shot 
him  again  and  killed  him.  When  I  went  to  take 
out  my  knife  to  butcher  him,  I  found  I  had  lost 
it  in  coming  through  the  harricane.  The  vines 
and  briers  was  so  thick  that  I  would  sometimes 
have  to  get  down  and  crawl  like  a  varment  to  get 
through  at  all  ;  and  a  vine  had,  as  I  supposed, 
caught  in  the  handle  and  pulled  it  out.  While  I 
was  standing  and  studying  what  to  do,  my  friend 
came  to  me.  He  had  followed  my  trail  through 
the  harricane.  and  had  found  my  knife,  which  was 
mighty  good  news  to  me  ;  as  a  hunter  hates  the 
worst  in  the  world  to  lose  a  good  dog,  or  any 
part  of  his  hunting-tools.  I  now  left  McDaniel 
to  butcher  the  bear,  and  I  went  after  our  horses, 
and  brought  them  as  near  as  the  nature  of  case 
would  allow.  I  then  took  our  bags,  and  went  back 
to  where  he  was  ;  and  when  we  had  skin'd  the 
bear,  we  fleeced  off  the  fat  and  carried  it  to  our 
horses  at  several  loads.  We  then  packed  it  up 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  187 

on  our  horses,  and  had  a  heavy  pack  of  it  on 
each  one.  We  now  started  and  went  on  till  about 
sunset,  when  I  concluded  we  must  be  near  our 
camp  ;  so  I  hollered  and  my  son  answered  me, 
and  we  moved  on  in  the  direction  to  the  camp. 
We  had  gone  but  a  little  way  when  I  heard  my 
dogs  make  a  warm  start  again  ;  and  I  jumped 
down  from  my  horse  and  gave  him  up  to  my 
friend,  and  told  him  I  would  follow  them.  He 
went  on  to  the  camp,  and  I  went  ahead  after  my 
dogs  with  all  my  might  for  a  considerable  dis 
tance,  till  at  last  night  came  on.  The  woods  were 
very  rough  and  hilly,  and  all  covered  over  with 
cane. 

I  now  was  compel'd  to  move  on  more  slowly  ; 
and  was  frequently  falling  over  logs,  and  into  the 
cracks  made  by  the  earthquakes,  so  that  I  was 
very  much  afraid  I  would  break  my  gun.  How 
ever  I  went  on  about  three  miles,  when  I  came  to 
a  good  big  creek,  which  I  waded.  It  was  very 
cold,  and  the  creek  was  about  knee-deep  ;  but  I 
felt  no  great  inconvenience  from  it  just  then,  as  I 
was  all  over  wet  with  sweat  from  running,  and  I. 
felt  hot  enough.  After  I  got  over  this  creek  and 
out  of  the  cane,  which  was  very  thick  on  all  our 
creeks,  I  listened  for  my  dogs.  I  found  they  had 
either  treed  or  brought  the  bear  to  a  stop,  as  they 


188  THE  LIFE  OF 

continued  barking  in  the  same  place.  I  pushed  on 
as  near  in  the  direction  to  the  noise  as  I  could,  till 
I  found  the  hill  was  too  steep  for  me  to  climb, 
and  so  I  backed  and  went  down  the  creek  some 
distance  till  I  came  to  a  hollow,  and  then  took  up 
that,  till  I  come  to  a  place  where  I  could  climb  up 
the  hill.  It  was  mighty  dark,  and  was  difficult  to 
see  my  way  or  any  thing  else.  When  I  got  up 
the  hill,  I  found  I  had  passed  the  dogs  ;  and  so  I 
turned  and  went  to  them.  I  found,  when  I  got 
there,  they  had  treed  the  bear  in  a  large  forked 
poplar,  and  it  was  setting  in  the  fork. 

I  could  see  the  lump,  but  not  plain  enough  to 
shoot  with  any  certainty,  as  there  was  no  moon 
light  ;  and  so  I  set  in  to  hunting  for  some  dry 
brush  to  make  me  a  light ;  but  I  could  find  none, 
though  I  could  find  that  the  ground  was  torn 
mightily  to  pieces  by  the  cracks. 

At  last  I  thought  I  could  shoot  by  guess,  and  kill 
him  ;  so  I  pointed  as  near  the  lump  as  I  could;  and 
fired  away.  But  the  bear  didn't  come  he  only 
clomb  up  higher,  and  got  out  on  a  limb,  which 
helped  me  to  see  him  better.  I  now  loaded  up 
again  and  fired,  but  this  time  he  didn't  move  at 
all.  I  commenced  loading  for  a  third  fire,  but  the 
first  thing  I  knowed,  the  bear  was  down  among 
my  dogs,  and  they  were  fighting  all  around  me. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  189 

I  had  my  big  butcher  in  my  belt,  and  I  had  a  pair 
of  dressed  buckskin  breeches  on.  So  I  took  out 
my  knife,  and  stood,  determined,  if  he  should  get 
hold  of  me,  to  defend  myself  in  the  best  way  I 
could.  I  stood  there  for  some  time,  and  could 
now  and  then  see  a  white  dog  I  had,  but  the  rest 
of  them,  and  the  bear,  which  were  dark  coloured, 
I  couldn't  see  at  all,  it  was  so  miserable  dark. 
They  still  fought  around  me,  and  sometimes 
within  three  feet  of  me  ;  but,  at  last,  the  bear  got 
down  into  one  of  the  cracks,  that  the  earthquakes 
had  made  in  the  ground,  about  four  feet  deep,  and 
I  could  tell  the  biting  end  of  him  by  the  hollering 
of  my  dogs.  So  I  took  my  gun  and  pushed  the 
muzzle  of  it  about,  till  I  thought  I  had  it  against 
the  main  part  of  his  body,  and  fired  ;  but  it  hap 
pened  to  be  only  the  fleshy  part  of  his  foreleg. 
With  this,  he  jumped  out  of  the  crack,  and  he 
and  the  dogs  had  another  hard  fight  around  me, 
as  before.  At  last,  however,  they  forced  him 
back  into  the  crack  again,  as  he  was  when  I  had 
shot 

I  had  laid  down  my  gun  in  the  dark,  and  I  now 
began  to  hunt  for  it  ;  and,  while  hunting,  I  got 
hold  of  a  pole,  and  I  concluded  I  would  punch 
him  awhile  with  that.  I  did  so,  and  when  I 
would  punch  him,  the  dogs  would  jump  in  on 


190  THE  LIFE  OF 

him,  when  he  would  bite  them  badly,  and  they 
would  jump  out  again.  I  concluded,  as  he  would 
take  punching  so  patiently,  it  might  be  that  he 
would  lie  still  enough  for  me  to  get  down  in  the 
crack,  and  feel  slowly  along  till  I  could  find  the 
right  place  to  give  him  a  dig  with  my  butcher. 
So  I  got  down,  and  my  dogs  got  in  before  him 
and  kept  his  head  towards  them,  till  I  got  along 
easily  up  to  him ;  and  placing  my  hand  on  his 
rump,  felt  for  his  shoulder,  just  behind  which 
I  intended  to  stick  him.  I  made  a  lounge  with 
my  long  knife,  and  fortunately  stuck  him  right 
through  the  heart ;  at  which  he  just  sank  down, 
and  I  crawled  out  in  a  hurry.  In  a  little  time 
my  dogs  all  come  out  too,  and  seemed  satisfied, 
which  was  the  way  they  always  had  of  telling 
me  that  they  had  finished  him. 

I  suffered  very  much  that  night  with  cold,  as 
my  leather  breeches,  and  every  thing  else  I  had 
on,  was  wet  and  frozen.  But  I  managed  to  get 
my  bear  out  of  this  crack  after  several  hard  trials, 
and  so  I  butchered  him,  and  laid  down  to  try  to 
sleep.  But  my  fire  was  very  bad,  and  I  couldn't 
find  any  thing  that  would  burn  well  to  make  it 
any  better ;  and  I  concluded  I  should  freeze,  if  I 
didn't  warm  myself  in  some  way  by  exercise. 
So  I  got  up,  and  hollered  a  while,  and  then  I 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 

would  just  jump  up  and  down  with  all  my  might, 
and  throw  myself  into  all  sorts  of  motions.  But 
all  this  wouldn't  do  ;  for  my  blood  was  now 
getting  cold,  and  the  chills  coming  all  over  me. 
I  was  so  tired,  too,  that  I  could  hardly  walk ;  but  I 
thought  I  would  do  the  best  I  could  to  save  my 
life,  and  then,  if  I  died,  nobody  would  be  to 
blame.  So  I  went  to  a  tree  about  two  feet  through, 
and  not  a  limb  on  it  for  thirty  feet,  and  I  would 
climb  up  it  to  the  limbs,  and  then  lock  my  arms 
together  around  it,  and  slide  down  to  the  bottom 
again.  This  would  make  the  insides  of  my  legs 
and  arms  feel  mighty  warm  and  good.  I  continued 
this  till  daylight  in  the  morning,  and  how  often  I 
clomb  up  my  tree  and  slid  down  I  don't  know, 
but  I  reckon  at  least  a  hundred  times. 

In  the  morning  I  got  my  bear  hung  up  so  as  to 
be  safe,  and  then  set  out  to  hunt  for  my  camp.  I 
found  it  after  a  while,  and  McDaniel  and  my  son 
were  very  much  rejoiced  to  see  me  get  back,  for 
they  were  about  to  give  me  up  for  lost.  We  got 
our  breakfasts,  and  then  secured  our  meat  by 
building  a  high  scaffold,  and  covering  it  over. 
We  had  no  fear  of  its  spoiling,  for  the  weather  was 
so  cold  that  it  couldn't. 

We  now  started  after  my  other  bear,  which  had 
caused  me  so  much  trouble  and  suffering  ;  and  be- 


192  THE  LIFE  OF 

fore  we  got  him,  we  got  a  start  after  another,  and 
took  him  also.  We  went  on  to  the  creek  I  had 
crossed  the  night  before  and  camped,  and  then 
went  to  where  my  bear  was,  that  I  had  killed  in 
the  crack.  When  we  examined  the  place,  McDa- 
niel  said  he  wouldn't  have  gone  into  it,  as  I  did, 
for  all  the  bears  in  the  woods. 

We  took  the  meat  down  to  our  camp  and  salted 
it,  and  also  the  last  one  we  had  killed ;  intending, 
in  the  morning,  to  make  a  hunt  in  the  harricane 
again. 

We  prepared  for  resting  that  night,  and  I  can 
assure  the  reader  I  was  in  need  of  it.  We  had 
laid  down  by  our  fire,  and  about  ten  o'clock  there 
came  a  most  terrible  earthquake,  which  shook  the 
earth  so,  that  we  were  rocked  about  like  we  had 
been  in  a  cradle.  We  were  very  much  alarmed  ; 
for  though  we  were  accustomed  to  feel  earth 
quakes,  we  were  now  right  in  the  region  which 
had  been  torn  to  pieces  by  them  in  1812,  and  we 
thought  it  might  take  a  notion  and  swallow  us  up, 
like  the  big  fish  did  Jonah. 

In  the  morning  we  packed  up  and  moved  to  the 
harricane,  where  we  made  another  camp,  and 
turned  out  that  evening  and  killed  a  very  large 
bear,  which  made  eight  we  had  now  killed  in 
this  hunt. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  193 

The  next  morning  we  entered  the  harricane 
again,  and  in  little  or  no  time  my  dogs  were  in 
full  cry.  We  pursued  them,  and  soon  came  to  a 
thick  cane-brake,  in  which  they  had  stop'd  their 
bear.  We  got  up  close  to  him,  as  the  cane  was 
so  thick  that  we  couldn't  see  more  than  a  few 
feet.  Here  I  made  my  friend  hold  the  cane  a 
little  open  with  his  gun  till  1  shot  the  bear, 
which  was  a  mighty  large  one.  I  killed  him 
dead  in  his  tracks.  We  got  him  out  and  butch 
ered  him,  and  in  a  little  time  started  another 
and  killed  him,  which  now  made  ten  we  had 
killed;  and  we  know'd  we  couldn't  pack  any 
more  home,  as  we  had  only  five  horses  along  ; 
therefore  we  returned  to  the  camp  and  salted  up 
all  our  meat,  to  be  ready  for  a  start  homeward 
next  morning. 

The  morning  came,  and  we  packed  our  horses 
with  the  meat,  and  had  as  much  as  they  could  pos 
sibly  carry,  and  sure  enough  cut  out  for  home.  It 
was  about  thirty  miles,  and  we  reached  home  the 
second  day.  I  had  now  accommodated  my  neigh 
bour  with  meat  enough  to  do  him,  and  had  killed 
in  all,  up  to  that  time,  fifty-eight  bears,  during  the 
fall  and  winter. 

As  soon  as  the  time  come  for  them  to  quit 
their  houses  and  come  out  again  in  the  spring, 
R 


194         .  THE  LIFE  OF 

I  took  a  notion  to  hunt  a  little  more,  and  in 
about  one  month  I  killed  forty-seven  more,  which 
made  one  hundred  and  five  bears  I  had  killed  in 
less  than  one  year  from  that  time. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  ^95 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

HAVING  now  closed  my  hunting  for  that  winter, 
I  returned  to  my  hands,  who  were  engaged  about 
my  boats  and  staves,  and  made  ready  for  a  trip 
down  the  river.  I  had  two  boats  and  about 
thirty  thousand  staves,  and  so  I  loaded  with  them, 
and  set  out  for  New  Orleans.  I  got  out  of  the 
Obion  river,  in  which  I  had  loaded  my  boats, 
very  well  ;  but  when  I  got  into  the  Mississippi,  I 
found  all  my  hands  were  bad  scared,  and  in  fact  I  be 
lieve  I  was  scared  a  little  the  worst  of  any  ;  for 
I  had  never  been  down  the  river,  and  I  soon  dis 
covered  that  my  pilot  was  as  ignorant  of  the  business 
as  myself.  I  hadn't  gone  far  before  I  determined  to 
lash  the  two  boats  together ;  we  did  so,  but  it  made 
them  so  heavy  and  obstinate,  that  it  was  next  akin 
to  impossible  to  do  any  thing  at  all  with  them,  or 
to  guide  them  right  in  the  river. 

That  evening  we  fell  in  company  with  some 
Ohio  boats  ;  and  about  night  we  tried  to  land,  but 
we  could  not.  The  Ohio  men  hollered  to  us  to 


j[96  THE  LIFE  OF 

go  on  and  run  all  night.  We  took  their  advice, 
though  we  had  a  good  deal  rather  not  ;  but  we 
couldn't  do  any  other  way.  In  a  short  distance  we 
got  into  what  is  called  the  te  Devil's  Elbow;"  and 
if  any  place  in  the  wide  creation  has  its  own  proper 
name,  I  thought  it  was  this.  Here  we  had  about 
the  hardest  work  that  I  ever  was  engaged  in,  in 
my  life,  to  keep  out  of  danger  ;  and  even  then 
we  were  in  it  all  the  while.  We  twice  attempted 
to  land  at  Wood-yards,  which  we  could  see,  but 
couldn't  reach. 

The  people  would  run  out  with  lights,  and  try 
to  instruct  us  how  to  get  to  shore  ;  but  all  in  vain. 
Our  boats  were  so  heavy  that  we  couldn't  take 
them  much  any  way,  except  the  way  they  wanted 
to  go,  and  just  the  way  the  current  would  carry 
them.  At  last  we  quit  trying  to  land,  and  con 
cluded  just  to  go  ahead  as  well  as  we  could,  for 
we  found  we  couldn't  do  any  better.  Some  time 
in  the  night  I  was  down  in  the  cabin  of  one  of 
the  boats,  sitting  by  the  fire,  thinking  on  what  a 
hobble  we  had  got  into  ;  and  how  much  better 
bear-hunting  was  on  hard  land,  than  floating  along 
on  the  water,  when  a  fellow  had  to  go  ahead 
whether  he  was  exactly  willing  or  not. 

The  hatchway  into  the  cabin  came  slap  down, 
right  through  the  top  of  the  boat ;  and  it  was  the 


DAVIT)  CROCKETT  197 

only  way  out  except  a  small  hole  in  the  side, 
which  we  had  used  for  putting  our  arms  through 
to  dip  up  water  before  we  lashed  the  boats  to 
gether. 

We  were  now  floating  sideways,  and  the  boat  I 
was  in  was  the  hindmost  as  we  went.  All  at  once 
I  heard  the  hands  begin  to  run  over  the  top  of  the 
boat  in  great  confusion,  and  pull  with  all  their 
might ;  and  the  first  thing  I  know'd  after  this 
we  went  broadside  full  tilt  against  the  head  of  an 
island  where  a  large  raft  of  drift  timber  had  lodged. 
The  nature  of  such  a  place  would  be,  as  every 
body  knows,  to  suck  the  boats  down,  and  turn 
them  right  under  this  raft ;  and  the  uppermost 
boat  would,  of  course,  be  suck'd  down  and  go  un 
der  first  As  soon  as  we  struck,  I  bulged  for  my 
hatchway,  as  the  boat  was  turning  under  sure 
enough.  But  when  I  got  to  it,  the  water  was  pour 
ing  thro'  in  a  current  as  large  as  the  hole  would 
let  it,  and  as  strong  as  the  weight  of  the  river 
could  force  it.  I  found  I  couldn't  get  out  here, 
for  the  boat  was  now  turned  down  in  such  a  way, 
that  it  was  steeper  than  a  house-top.  I  now 
thought  of  the  hole  in  the  side,  and  made  my 
way  in  a  hurry  for  that.  With  difficulty  I  got  to 
it,  and  when  I  got  there,  I  found  it  was  too  small 
for  me  to  get  out  by  my  own  dower,  and  I  began 

R2 


198  THE  LTFE   OF 

to  think  that  I  was  in  a  worse  box  than  ever. 
But  I  put  my  arms  through  and  hollered  as  loud 
as  I  could  roar,  as  the  boat  I  was  in  hadn't  yet 
quite  filled  with  water  up  to  my  head,  and  the 
hands  who  were  next  to  the  raft,  seeing  my  arms 
out,  and  hearing  me  holler,  seized  them,  and  be 
gan  to  pull.  I  told  them  I  was  sinking,  and  to 
pull  my  arms  off,  or  force  me  through,  for  now  I 
knowr?d  well  enough  it  was  neck  or  nothing,  come 
out  or  sink. 

By  a  violent  effort  they  jerked  me  through  ; 
but  I  was  in  a  pretty  pickle  when  I  got  through. 
I  had  been  sitting  without  any  clothing  over  my 
shirt :  this  was  torn  off,  and  I  was  literally 
skin'd  like  a  rabbit.  I  was,  however,  well  pleased 
to  get  out  in  any  way,  even  without  shirt  or 
hide  ;  as  before  I  could  straighten  myself  on  the 
boat  next  to  the  raft,  the  one  they  pull'd  me  out 
of  went  entirely  under,  and  I  have  never  seen  it 
any  more  to  this  day.  We  all  escaped  on  to  the 
raft,  where  we  were  compelled  to  sit  all  night, 
about  a  mile  from  land  on  either  side.  Four  of 
my  company  were  bareheaded,  and  three  bare 
footed  ;  and  of  that  number  I  was  one.  I  reckon 
I  looked  like  a  pretty  cracklin  ever  to  get  to 
Congress ! ! ! 
We  had  now  lost  all  our  loading  j  and  every 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  199 

particle  of  our  clothing,  except  what  little  we  had 
on  ;  but  over  all  this,  while  I  was  setting  there, 
in  the  night,  floating  about  on  the  drift,  I  felt  hap 
pier  and  better  off  than  I  ever  had  in  my  life  be 
fore,  for  I  had  just  made  such  a  marvellous  escape, 
that  I  had  forgot  almost  every  thing  else  in  that ; 
and  so  I  felt  prime. 

In  the  morning  about  sunrise,  we  saw  a  boat 
coming  down,  and  we  hailed  her.  They  sent  a 
large  skiff,  and  took  us  all  on  board,  and  carried  us 
down  as  far  as  Memphis.  Here  I  met  with  a 
friend,  that  I  never  can  forget  as  long  as  I  am  able 
to  go  ahead  at  any  thing  ;  it  was  a  Major  Win 
chester,  a  merchant  of  that  place  :  he  let  us  all 
have  hats,  and  shoes,  and  some  little  money  to  go 
upon,  and  so  we  all  parted. 

A  young  man  and  myself  concluded  to  go  on 
down  to  Natchez,  to  see  if  we  could  hear  any  thing 
of  our  boats  ;  for  we  supposed  they  would  float 
out  from  the  raft,  and  keep  on  down  the  river. 
We  got  on  a  boat  at  Memphis,  that  was  going 
down,  and  so  cut  out.  Our  largest  boat,  we  were 
informed,  had  been  seen  about  fifty  miles  below 
where  we  stove,  and  an  attempt  had  been  made 
to  land  her,  but  without  success,  as  she  was  as  hard- 
headed  as  ever. 

This  was  the  kst  of  my  boats,  and  of  my  boat- 


200  THE  LIFE  OF 

ing  ;  for  it  went  so  badly  with  me,  along  at  the 
first,  that  I  hadn't  much  mind  to  try  it  any 
more.  I  now  returned  home  again,  and  as  the 
next  August  was  the  Congressional  election,  I  be 
gan  to  turn  my  attention  a  little  to  that  matter,  as 
it  was  beginning  to  be  talked  of  a  good  deal  among 
the  people. 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  201 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

I  HAVE,  heretofore,  informed  the  reader  that  I 
had  determined  to  run  this  race  to  see  what  effect 
the  price  of  cotton  could  have  again  on  it.  I  now 
had  Col.  Alexander  to  run  against  once  more,  and 
also  General  William  Arnold. 

I  had  difficulties  enough  to  fight  against  this 
time,  as  every  one  will  suppose  ;  for  I  had  no 
money,  and  a  very  bad  prospect,  so  far  as  I  know'd, 
of  getting  any  to  help  me  along.  I  had,  however, 
a  good  friend,  who  sent  for  me  to  come  and  see 
him.  I  went,  and  he  was  good  enough  to  offer 
me  some  money  to  help  me  out  I  borrowed 
as  much  as  I  thought  I  needed  at  the  start,  and 
went  ahead.  My  friend  also  had  a  good  deal  of 
business  about  over  the  district  at  the  different 
courts  ;  and  if  he  now  and  then  slip'd  in  a 
good  word  for  me,  it  is  nobody's  business. 
We  frequently  met  at  different  places,  and, 
as  he  thought  I  needed,  he  would  occasionally 
hand  me  a  little  more  cash  j  so  I  was  able  to  buy 


THE 

a  little  of  " the  creature"  to  put  my  friends  in  a 
good  humour,  as  well  as  the  other  gentlemen,  for 
they  all  treat  in  that  country  ;  not  to  get  elected, 
of  course — for  that  would  be  against  the  law  ;  but 
just,  as  I  before  said,  to  make  themselves  and  their 
friends  feel  their  keeping  a  little. 

Nobody  ever  did  know  how  I  got  money  to 
get  along  on,  till  after  the  election  was  over,  and 
I  had  beat  my  competitors  twenty-seven  hun 
dred  and  forty-eight  votes.  Even  the  price  of 
cotton  couldn't  save  my  friend  Aleck  this  time. 
My  rich  friend,  who  had  been  so  good  to  me  in 
the  way  of  money,  now  sent  for  me,  and  loaned 
me  a  hundred  dollars,  and  told  me  to  go  ahead  ; 
that  that  amount  would  bear  my  expenses  to  Con 
gress,  and  I  must  then  shift  for  myself.  I  came 
on  to  Washington,  and  draw'd  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  and  purchased  with  it  a  check  on  the 
bank  at  Nashville,  and  enclosed  it  to  my  friend  ; 
and  I  may  say,  in  truth,  I  sent  this  money  with  a 
mighty  good  will,  for  I  reckon  nobody  in  this 
world  loves  a  friend  better  than  me,  or  remembers 
a  kindness  longer. 

I  have  now  given  the  close  of  the  election,  but 
I  have  skip'd  entirely  over  the  canvass,  of  which 
I  will  say  a  very  few  things  in  this  place ;  as  I 
know  very  well  how  to  tell  the  truth,  but  not  much 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  203 

about  placing  them  in  book  order,  so  as  to  please 
critics. 

Col.  Alexander  was  a  very  clever  fellow,  and 
principal  surveyor  at  that  time ;  so  much  for  one  of 
the  men  I  had  to  run  against.  My  other  competi 
tor  was  a  major-general  in  the  militia,  and  an  at 
torney-general  at  the  law,  and  quite  a  smart,  clever 
man  also  ;  and  so  it  will  be  seen  I  had  war  work 
as  well  as  law  trick,  to  stand  up  under.  Taking 
both  together,  they  make  a  pretty  considerable 
of  a  load  for  any  one  man  to  carry.  But  for 
war  claims,  I  consider  myself  behind  no  man 
except  "  the  government,"  and  mighty  little,  if 
any,  behind  him  ;  but  this  the  people  will  have 
to  determine  hereafter,  as  I  reckon  it  won't  do 
to  quit  the  work  of  "  reform  and  retrenchment" 
yet  for  a  spell. 

But  my  two  competitors  seemed  some  little 
afraid  of  the  influence  of  each  other,  but  not  to 
think  me  in  their  way  at  all.  They,  therefore, 
were  generally  working  against  each  other,  while 
I  was  going  ahead  for  myself,  and  mixing  among 
the  people  in  the  best  way  I  could.  I  was  as  cun 
ning  as  a  little  red  fox,  and  wouldn't  risk  my  tail 
in  a  "  committal"  trap. 

I  found  the  sign  was  good,  almost  everywhere 
I  went.  On  one  occasion,  while  we  were  in  the 


204  THE  LIFE  OF 

eastern  counties  of  the  district,  it  happened  that 
we  all  had  to  make  a  speech,  and  it  fell  on  me  to 
.  make  the  first  one.  I  did  so  after  my  manner, 
and  it  turned  pretty  much  on  the  old  saying,  "  A 
short  horse  is  soon  curried/'  as  I  spoke  not  very 
long.  Colonel  Alexander  followed  me,  and  then 
General  Arnold  come  on. 

The  general  took  much  pains  to  reply  to  Alex 
ander,  but  didn't  so  much  as  let  on  that  there  was 
any  such  candidate  as  myself  at  all.  He  had 
been  speaking  for  a  considerable  time,  when  a 
large  flock  of  guinea-fowls  came  very  near  to 
where  he  was,  and  set  up  the  most  unmerciful 
chattering  that  ever  was  heard,  for  they  are  a  noisy 
little  brute  any  way.  They  so  confused  the  ge 
neral,  that  he  made  a  stop,  and  requested  that  they 
might  be  driven  away.  I  let  him  finish  his  speech, 
and  then  walking  up  to  him,  said  aloud,  "  Well, 
colonel,  you  are  the  first  man  I  ever  saw  that  un 
derstood  the  language  of  fowls."  I  told  him  that 
he  had  not  had  the  politeness  to  name  me  in  his 
speech,  and  that  when  my  little  friends,  the  guinea- 
fowls,  had  come  up  and  began  to  holler  "  Crockett, 
Crockett,  .Crockett,"  he  had  been  ungenerous 
enough  to  stop,  and  drive  them  all  away.  This 
raised  a  universal  shout  among  the  people  for  me, 
and  the  general  seemed  mighty  bad  plagued.  But 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  OQ5 

he  got  more  plagued  than  this  at  the  polls  in  Au 
gust,  as  I  have  stated  before. 

This  election  was  in  1827,  and  I  can  say,  on 
my  conscience,  that  I  was,  without  disguise,  the 
friend  and  supporter  of  General  Jackson,  upon 
his  principles  as  he  laid  them  down,  and  as  "/ 
understood  them"  before  his  election  as  presi 
dent.  During  my  two  first  sessions  in  Congress, 
Mr.  Adams  was  president,  and  I  worked  along 
with  what  was  called  the  Jackson  party  pretty 
well.  I  was  re-elected  to  Congress,  in  1829,  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  ;  and  soon  after  the 
commencement  of  this  second  term,  I  saw,  or 
thought  I  did,  that  it  was  expected  of  me  that  I 
was  to  bow  to  the  name  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and 
follow  him  in  all  his  motions,  and  mindings,  and 
turnings,  even  at  the  expense  of  my  conscience 
and  judgment.  Such  a  thing  was  new  to  me,  and 
a  total  stranger  to  my  principles.  I  know'd  well 
enough,  though,  that  if  I  didn't  "hurra"  for  his 
name,  the  hue  and  cry  was  to  be  raised  against 
me,  and  I  was  to  be  sacrificed,  if  possible.  His 
famous,  or  rather  I  should  say  his  in-famous,  In 
dian  bill  was  brought  forward,  and  I  opposed  it 
from  the  purest  motives  in  the  world.  Several 
of  my  colleagues  got  around  me,  and  told  me  how 
well  they  loved  me,  and  that  I  was  ruining  my 
S 


206  THE  LIFE  OF 

self.     They  said  this  was  a  favourite   measure  of 
the  president,  and  I  ought  to   go   for  it.     I   told 
them  I  believed  it  was  a  wicked,  unjust  measure, 
and  that  I  should  go  against  it,  let  the  cost  to  my 
self  be  what  it  might  ;  that  I  was  willing  to  go 
with  General  Jackson  in  every  thing  that  I  be 
lieved   was  honest  and   right;    but,  further  than 
this,  I  wouldn't  go  for  him,  or  any  other  man  in 
the  whole  creation  ;  that  I  would  sooner  be  ho 
nestly  and  politically  d — nd,  than  hypocritically 
immortalized.     I  had  been  elected  by  a  majority 
of  three   thousand  five  hundred   and    eighty-five 
votes,  and  I  believed  they  were  honest  men,  and 
wouldn't  want  me  to  vote  for  any  unjust  notion, 
to  please  Jackson  or  any  one  else  ;  at  any  rate, 
I  was  of  age,  and  was  determined  to  trust  them. 
I  voted  against  this  Indian  bill,  and  my  conscience 
yet  tells  me  that  I  gave  a  good  honest  vote,  and 
one  that  I  believe  will  not  make  me  ashamed  in 
the  day  of  judgment.     I  served  out  my  term,  and 
though  many  amusing  things  happened,  I  am  not 
disposed  to  swell  my  narrative  by  inserting  them. 
When  it  closed,  and  I  returned  home,  I  found 
the  storm  had  raised  against  me  sure  enough  ; 
and  it  was  echoed  from  side  to  side,  and  from  end 
to  end  of  my  district,  that  I  had  turned  against 
Jackson.     This  was  considered  the  unpardonable 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  207 

sin.  I  was  hunted  down  like  a  wild  varment,  and 
'•*  in  this  hunt  every  little  newspaper  in  the  district, 
and  every  little  pin-hook  lawyer  was  engaged. 
Indeed,  they  were  ready  to  print  any  and  every 
thing  that  the  ingenuity  of  man  could  invent 
against  me.  Each  editor  was  furnished  with  the 
journals  of  Congress  from  head-quarters;  and 
hunted  out  every  vote  I  had  missed  in  four  ses 
sions,  whether  from  sickness  or  not,  no  matter , 
and  each  one  was  charged  against  me  at  eight 
dollars.  In  all  I  had  missed  about  seventy  votes, 
which  they  made  amount  to  five  hundred  and 
sixty  dollars  ;  and  they  contended  I  had  swindled 
the  government  out  of  this  sum,  as  I  had  received 
my  pay,  as  other  members  do.  I  was  now  again 
a  candidate  in  1830,  while  all  the  attempts  were 
making  against  me  ;  and  every  one  of  these  little 
papers  kept  up  a  constant  war  on  me,  fighting 
with  every  scurrilous  report  they  could  catch. 

Over  all  I  should  have  been  elected,  if  it  hadn't 
been,  that  but  a  few  weeks  before  the  election,  the 
little  four-pence-ha'penny  limbs  of  the  law  fell  on 
a  plan  to  defeat  me,  which  had  the  desired  effect. 
They  agreed  to  spread  out  over  the  district,  and 
make  appointments  for  me  to  speak,  almost  every 
where,  to  clear  up  the  Jackson  question.  They 
would  give  me  no  notice  of  these  appointments, 


208  THE  LIFE  OF 

and  the  people  would  meet  in  great  crowds  to 
*  hear  what  excuse  Crockett  had  to  make  for  quit 
ting  Jackson. 

But  instead  of  Crockett's  being  there,  this 
small-fry  of  lawyers  would  be  there,  with  their 
saddle-bags  full  of  the  little  newspapers  and  their 
journals  of  Congress  ;  and  would  get  up  and 
speak,  and  read  their  scurrilous  attacks  on  me, 
and  would  then  tell  the  people  that  I  was  afraid 
to  attend  ;  and  in  this  way  would  turn  many 
against  me.  All  this  intrigue  was  kept  a  profound 
secret  from  me,  till  it  was  too  late  to  counteract 
it  ;  and  when  the  election  came,  I  had  a  majority 
in  seventeen  counties,  putting  all  their  votes  to 
gether,  but  the  eighteenth  beat  me  ;  and  so  I  was 
left  out  of  Congress  during  those  two  years.  The 
people  of  my  district  were  induced,  by  these  tricks, 
to  take  a  stay  on  me  for  that  time  ;  but  they  have 
since  found  out  that  they  were  imposed  on,  and 
on  re-considering  my  case,  have  reversed  that  de 
cision  ;  which,  as  the  Dutchman  said,  "  is  as  fair  a 
ding  as  eber  was." 

When  I  last  declared  myself  a  candidate,  I 
knew  that  the  district  would  be  divided  by  the 
Legislature  before  the  election  would  come  on  ; 
ttnd  I  moreover  knew,  that  from  the  geographical 
situation  of  the  country,  the  county  of  Madison, 


DAVID  CROCKETT.  209 

which    was   very    strong,    and   which    was    the 
county  that  had  given  the  majority  that  had  beat  * 
me  in  the  former  race,  should  be  left  off  from  my 
district. 

But  when  the  Legislature  met,  as  I  have  been 
informed,  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  fact,  Mr. 
Fitzgerald,  my  competitor,  went  up,  and  informed 
his  friends  in  that  body,  that  if  Madison  county 
was  left  off,  he  wouldn't  run  ;  for  "  that  Crockett 
could  beat  Jackson  himself  in  those  parts,  in  any 
way  they  could  fix  it." 

The  liberal  Legislature  you  know,  of  course, 
gave  him  that  county  ;  and  it  is  too  clear  to  admit 
of  dispute,  that  it  was  done  to  make  a  mash  of  me. 
In  order  to  make  my  district  in  this  way,  they  had 
to  form  the  southern  district  of  a  string  of  counties 
around  three  sides  of  mine,  or  very  nearly  so. 
Had  my  old  district  been  properly  divided,  it 
would  have  made  two  nice  ones,  in  convenient  nice 
form.  But  as  it  is,  they  are  certainly  the  most 
unreasonably  laid  off  of  any  in  the  state,  or  perhaps 
in  the  nation,  or  even  in  the  te-total  creation. 

However,  when  the  election  came  on,  the  peo 
ple  of  the  district,  and  of  Madison  county  among 
the  rest,  seemed  disposed  to  prove  to  Mr.  Fitzge 
rald  and  the  Jackson  Legislature,  that  they  were  not 

to  be  transferred  like  hogs,  and  horses,  and  cattle 

s2 


210  THE  LIFE  OF 

in  the  market;  and  they  determined  that  I  shouldn't 
be  broke  down,  though  I  had  to  carry  Jackson,  and 
the  enemies  of  the  bank,  and  the  legislative  works 
all  at  once.  I  had  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  it  is  true,  for 
my  open  competitor,  but  he  was  helped  along  by 
all  his  little  lawyers  again,  headed  by  old  Black 
Hawk,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  (alias)  Adam 
Huntsman,  with  all  his  talents  for  writing  "  Chro 
nicles"  and  such  like  foolish  stuff. 

But  one  good  thing  was,  and  I  must  record  it, 
the  papers  in  the  district  were  now  beginning  to 
say  "  fair  play  a  little,"  and  they  would  publish 
on  both  sides  of  the  question.  The  contest  was  a 
warm  one,  and  the  battle  well-fought ;  but  I  gained 
the  day,  and  the  Jackson  horse  was  left  a  little 
behind.  When  the  polls  were  compared,  it  turned 
out  I  had  beat  Fitz  just  two  hundred  and  two 
votes,  having  made  a  mash  of  all  their  intrigues. 
After  all  this,  the  reader  will  perceive  that  I  am 
now  here  in  Congress,  this  28th  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  thirty-four  ;  and  that,  what  is  more 
agreeable  to  my  feelings  as  a  freeman,  I  am  at 
liberty  to  vote  as  my  conscience  and  judgment 
dictates  to  be  right,  without  the  yoke  of  any  party 
on  me,  or  the  driver  at  my  heels,  with  his  whip  in 
hand;  commanding  me  to  ge-wo-haw,  just  at  his 


DAVID  CROCKETT. 


211 


pleasure.  Look  at  my  arms,  you  will  find  no 
party  hand-cuff  on  them  !  Look  at  my  neck,  you 
will  not  find  there  any  collar,  with  the  engraving 


MY  BOG. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


But  you  will  find  me  standing  up  to  my  rack, 
as  the  people's  faithful  representative,  and  the  pub 
lic's  most  obedient,  very  humble  servant, 

DAVID   CROCKETT. 


i 


THE    END. 


- 


CHESNUT  STREET, 

MARCH,  1834. 

NEW   WORKS 

LATELY  PUBLISHED, 

AND 

PREPARING    FOR   PUBLICATION, 

E.  L.  CAREY  &  A!  HART,  PHILAD. 

AND 

CAREY,  HART  &  Co.  BALTIMORE, 

AND  FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  BOOKSELLERS. 


In  two  Volumes,  12ma 

CONSTANCE; 

By  Mrs.  A.  T.  THOMSON, 

Author  of  the  Life  of  Henry  VIII. 

"  One  of  the  most  touching  and  exquisitely  natural  tales  that  many 
seasons  have  produced.  It  developes  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  human 
heart,  and  a  remarkable  power  in  the  delineation  of  character." — Atlas. 

"This  novel,  in  its  sketches  of  English  country  society,  is  mosl  success 
ful  ;  its  portraits  are  very  happy,  its  scenes  very  amusing." — Spectator. 

"  A  picture  of  real  life,  drawn  with  equal  truth,  gaiety  and  feeling — the 
three  graces  of  fiction." — Literary  Gazette. 

"  The  dramatic  ability  displayed  in  the  management  of  this  story  is  of 
the  very  highest  order." — Atlas. 

In  one  Volume,  12mo. 

C  A  R  W  E  L  L  ; 

By  Mrs.  SHERIDAN,  Author  of  "AiMS  AND  ENDS." 

"  A  story  which  for  minute  fidelity  to  truth,  for  high  tragic  conception, 
both  of  plot  and  character,  has  few  equals  in  modern  fiction." 

"But  everywhere  you  see  that  rarest  of  all  literary  beauties,  a  beau 
tiful  mind — an  intimate  persuasion  of  the  fine  and  great  truths  of  the 
human  heart — a  delicate  and  quick  perception  of  the  lovely  and  the  honest 
— an  intellect  that  profits  by  experience,  and  a  disposition  which  that 
experience  cannot  corrupt." — The  Author  of  Pelham. 

In  one  Volume,  12mo. 

THE    GENTLEMAN    IN    BLACK. 

"  It  is  very  clever  and  very  entertaining — replete  with  pleasantry  and 
humour:  quite  as  imaginative  as  any  German  diablerie,  and  far  more 
amusing  than  most  productions  of  its  class.  It  is  a  very  whimsical  and 
well  devised  jeu  d'esprit." — Literary  Gazette. 


NEW  WORKS    PUBLISHED  BY 


In  two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TRAITS   AND    STORIES    OF    THE 
IRISH    PEASANTRY. 

THIRD  SERIES. 

"  TIws  work  has  been  most  extravagantly  praised  by  the  English  critics : 
and  several  extracts  from  it  have  been  extensively  published  in  our  news 
papers.  It  is  altogether  a  better  work  than  any  of  the  kind  which  has 
yet  appeared — replete  with  humour,  both  broad  and  delicate — and  with 
occasional  touches  of  pathos,  which  have  not  been  excelled  by  any  writer 
of  the  present  day.  An  Edinburgh  critic  says  that  'neither  Miss  Edge- 
worth,  nor  the  author  of  the  O'Hara  tales,  could  have  written  any  thing 
more  powerful  than  this.'  " — Baltimore  American. 

"  There  seems  to  be  a  strong  unanimity  of  opinion  in  favour  of  the  new 
British  work  entitled  '  Traits  and  Stories  of  the  Irish  Peasantry.'  The 
work  is  proclaimed  in  the  British  journals,  and  pronounced  by  readers  in 
our  country,  to  be  equal  in  racy  humour  and  graphic  delineation,  to  the 
very  best  sketches  that  have  appeared  of  Irish  character,  life,  and  man 
ners." — National  Gazette. 


In  two  Volumes,  12mo. 

THE    AFFIANCED    ONE; 

By  the  Author  of  "  GERTRUDE." 

"  Evidently  the  production  of  a  woman  of  taste  and  refinement.  It 
abounds  with  lively  sketches  of  society,  and  sparkling  anecdote."— Belle 
Jlsscmblee. 

In  one  Volume,  8vo. 

MEMOIRS    OF    VIDOCQ, 

THE  CELEBRATED  AGENT  OF  THE  FRENCH  POLICE. 

This  is  a  most  entertaining  work.  Vidocq  stood  long  and  deservedly  at 
the  head  of  the  French  police.  It  is  well  written,  and  is  full  of  anecdote. 


In  three  Volumes,  12mo. 

PETER    SIMPLE ; 
OR,  ADVENTURES  OF  A  MIDSHIPMAN. 

COMPLETE. 
By  the  Author  of  the  "  KING'S  OWN,"  "  NAVAL  OFFICER,"  &c. 

"  The  quiet  humour  which  pervades  the  work  is  irresistibly  amusing, 
and  the  fund  of  anecdote  and  description  which  it  contains,  entertaining. 
The  humour  sometimes  approaches  to  downright  burlesque,  and  the  inci 
dent  to  extravagance,  if  not  improbability ;  but,  altogether,  as  a  book  of 
amusement,  it  is  excellent."— Baltimore  Gazette. 


E.   L.    CAREY  AND  A.   HART. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

THE   FAIR   OF   MAY   FAIR. 

By  the  Author  of  "  PIN  MONET,"  &c. 

"  Mrs.  Gore  certainly  stands  at  the  head  of  the  female  novelists  of  the 
day  But  we  subjoin  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Bulwer." — U.  S.  Oazette. 

"  She  is  the  consummator  of  that  undefinable  species  of  wit,  which  we 
should  call  (if  we  did  not  know  the  word  might  be  deemed  offensive,  in 
which  sense  we  do  not  mean  it)  the  slang  of  good  society. 

"  But  few  people  ever  painted,  with  so  felicitous  a  hand,  the  scenery  of 
worldly  life,  without  any  apparent  satire.  She  brings  before  you  the  hol- 
lowness,  the  manoeuvres,  and  the  intrigues  of  the  world,  with  the  bril 
liancy  of  sarcasm,  but  with  the  quiet  of  simple  narrative.  Her  men  and 
women,  in  her  graver  tales,  are  of  a  noble  and  costly  clay;  their  objects 
are  great ;  their  minds  are  large,  their  passions  intense  and  pure.  The 
walks  upon  the  stage  of  the  world  of  fashion,  and  her  characters,  have 
grown  dwarfed  as  if  by  enchantment.  The  air  of  frivolity  has  blighted 
their  stature  ;  their  colours  are  pale  and  languid  ;  they  have  no  generous 
ambition  ;  they  are  little  people!  they  are  fine  people  !  This  it  is  that  makes 
her  novel  of  our  social  life  so  natural,  and  so  clear  a  transcript  of  the 
original." — The  Author  of  Pelkam. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

THE   INVISIBLE   GENTLEMAN. 

By  the  Author  of  "  CHABTLEY,"  "  THE  FATALIST,"  etc.  etc. 

;'  It  is  a  novel  which  may  be  termed  the  whimsically  supernatural." — 
JH.henceuin. 

"  The  present  narrative  is  one  of  the  most  entertaining  fictions  we  have 
met  with  for  a  long  time  ;  the  idea  is  very  original,  and  brought  into  play 
with  a  lively  air  of  truth,  which  gives  a  dramatic  reality  even  to  the  su 
pernatural." — Literary  Gazette. 

"  The  adventures  follow  each  other  with  delightful  rapidity  and  variety  ; 
occasionally  there  is  a  deep  and  thrilling  touch  of  pathos,  which  we  feel 
not  a  bit  the  less  acutely,  because  the  trouble  and  wo  of  the  parties  have 
originated  in  the  familiar  and  somewhat  laughable  act  of  pulling  an  ear." 
— Court  Magazine. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

MOTHERS    AND    DAUGHTERS. 

"  The  best  novel  of  the  season — a  faithful,  exact,  and  withal  spirited 
picture  of  the  aristocracy  of  this  country — an  admirable  description  of 
what  is  called  high  life,  and  full  of  a  more  enlarged  knowledge  of  human 
nature." — Spectator. 

"  A  very  lively  and  amusing  panorama  of  actual  life." — Lit.  Oazette. 

"  A  very  interesting  work,  full  of  well-described  scenes  and  characters, 
and  altogether  deserving  of  being  classed  with  the  first-rate  novels  of  the 
day." — Courier. 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  lay  down  such  a  book  until  every  chapter  has 
been  perused.  Elegance  and  force  of  style— highly  toinrfaithfully  drawn 
pictures  of  society — are  merits  scarcely  secondary  to  those  we  have  enume 
rated  :  and  they  are  equally  displayed  throughout.  '  Mothers  and  Daugh 
ters'  must  find  its  way  rapidly  into  every  circle." — Bulwer's  JVeto  Monthly 
Magazine. 


NEW  WORKS    PUBLISHED  BY 


In  one  Volume,  12mo, 

A   SUBALTERN   IN   AMERICA; 

COMPRISING   HIS   NARRATIVE   OF  THE  CAMPAIGNS    OF   THE   BRITISH   ARMY   AT 
BALTIMORE,  WASHINGTON,  ETC.  DURING  THE  LATE  WAR. 

"  The  Subaltern  is  a  man  of  sense,  acuteness,  and  good  feeling,  who 
writes  with  spirit  and  good  taste. — Considering  that  he  is  an  Englishman 
and  an  English  officer  ^vriting  about  America,  his  book  is  tolerably  fair — 
and  makes  fewer  insulting  comments  upon  things  which  he  did  not  under 
stand,  than  has  been  customary  with  that  kind  of  authors. 

"  The  '  Subaltern'  is  nevertheless  a  very  agreeable,  well  written  book, 
and  we  are  glad  to  see  it  republished  here.  No  doubt  an  American  would 
have  written  some  portions  of  it  differently,  but  we  can  profit,  we  trust, 
by  observing  how  opposite  accounts  can  be  fairly  given  of  the  same  trans 
actions,  and  learn  something  of  the  trouble  in  which  history  is  written." 

Baltimore  American. 

"  THE  SUBALTERN  IN  AMERICA. — Under  this  title,  Messrs.  Carey. Hart  & 
Co.  have  recently  published  a  work  in  one  volume,  comprising  a  full  na'r- 
rative  of  the  campaigns  of  the  British  army,  at  Baltimore,  Washington, 
New  Orleans,  &.c.  during  the  late  war.  The  incidents  of  the  war,  as  re 
lated  in  the  American  papers,  are  probably  familiar  to  most  persons, 
through  that  channel.  Yet  the  ends  of  truth,  and  the  means  of  forming 
a  just  judgment,  may  require  that  one  should  hear  the  statement  of  the 
adverse  party,  as  well  as  that  most  favourable  to  our  side  of  the  question. 
There  is,  moreover,  two  ways  of  telling  even  the  truth.  They  who  feel 
an  interest  in  the  details  of  this  important  struggle  between  kindred 
nations,  have,  in  the  book  before  us,  an  opportunity  of  hearing  them,  as 
shaped  out  by  one  of  the  adverse  party.  The  '  Subaltern'  bore  an  active 
share  in  the  several  campaigns,  of  which  he  professes  to  give  an  account  ; 
and  if  his  narrations  are  somewhat  partial  to  his  own  side  of  the  ques 
tion,  it  is  but  the  indulgence  of  a  very  common  foible,  which  may  be  the 
more  readily  excused,  as  the  means  of  correction  are  at  hand." — Baltimore 
Patriot. 


In  two  Volumes,  12mo. 

PIN    MONEY; 

BY    MRS.     CHARLES     GORE, 
Authoress  of  "  HUNGARIAN  TALES,"  "  POLISH  TALES,"  etc. 

"  Her  writings  have  that  originality  which  wit  gives  to  reality,  and  wit 
is  the  great  characteristic  of  her  pages." — Bulwer's  New  Monthly  Magazine. 

"Light  spirited  and  clever,  the  characters  are  drawn  with  truth  and 
vigour.  Keen  in  observation,  lively  in  detail,  and  with  a  peculiar  and 
piquant  style,  Mrs.  Charles  Gore  gives  to  the  novel  that  charm  which 
makes  the  fascination  of  the  best  French  memoir  writers." — London  Lite 
rary  Qazttte. 

In  one  Volume,  12mo. 

^9  *» 

LEGENDS  AND  TALES  OF  IRELAND 

BY  SAMUEL    LOVER. 


E.  L.   CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


In  two  Volumes,  12rao. 

THE    MAN-OF-WAR'S-MAN; 

By  the  Author  of  "  TOM  CRINGLE'S  LOG." 

"  No  stories  of  adventures  are  more  exciting  than  those  of  seamen.  The 
author  of  Tom  Cringle's  Log  is  the  most  popular  writer  of  that  class,  and 
those  sketches  collected  not  long  since  into  a  volume  by  the  same  publish 
ers,  in  this  city,  were  universally  read.  A  large  edition  was  soon  ex 
hausted.  The  present  is,  we  believe,  an  earlier  production,  and  has  many 
of  the  same  merits." — Baltimore  Gazette. 

"  Messrs.  Carey  &  Hart  have  published,  in  two  volumes,  'The  Man-of- 
War's-Man.'  The  success  which  attended  the  publication  of  'Tom 
Cringle's  Log,'  might  well  induce  its  ingenious  author  to  undertake  a  con 
tinuous  narrative,  having  for  the  subject  of  illustration  the  manners  and 
customs  of  seamen.  The  work  now  before  us  is  of  the  kind,  well  imagined, 
and  executed  with  all  the  tact  and  clearness  that  distinguished  the  '  Log 
Book'  of  Master  Cringle,  with  the  advantages  of  a  more  regular  plot  and 
interesting  denouement." — U.  S.  Gazette. 

"  Nobody  needs  be  told  what  sort  of  a  book  Tom  Cringle  can  write — 
that  humorous  and  most  admirable  of  sailors !  We  may  just  remark  that 
the  reader  will  find  in  the  present  volume  the  same  power  of  description 
and  knowledge  of  the  world — the  same  stirring  adventures,  phrases,  dia 
lects,  and  incidents  which  rendered  his  last  work  so  extravagantly  popular. 
The  printing  is  uncommonly  good  for  a  novel." 

In  one  Volume,  8vo. 
THE    AMERICAN 

FLOWER  GARDEN  DIRECTORY, 

CONTAINING  PRACTICAL  DIRECTIONS  FOR  THE   CULTURE 
OF  PLANTS  IN  THE 

HOT-HOUSE,    GARDEN-HOUSE,    FLOWER-GARDEN, 
AND  ROOMS  OR  PARLOURS, 

For  every  month  in  the  year ;  with  a  description  of  the  plants  most 
desirable  in  each,  the  nature  of  the  soil  and  situation  best  adapted  to  their 
growth,  the  proper  season  for  transplanting,  &c.;  instructions  for  erecting  a 

HOT-HOUSE,  GREEN-HOUSE,  AND  LAYING  OUT  A 
FLOWER-GARDEN. 

Also,  table  of  soils  most  congenial  to  the  plants  contained  in  the  work. 
The  whole  adapted  to  either  large  or  small  gardens,  with  lists  of  annuals, 
bienniels,  and  ornamental  shrubs,  contents,  a  general  index,  and  a  front 
ispiece  of  Camellia  Fimbriata. 

BY  HIBBERT  AND  BUIST, 
EXOTIC   NURSERYMEN  AND   FLORISTa 

In  two  Volumes,  12mo. 

JACOB   FAITHFUL; 

By  the  Author  of  PETER  SIMPLE,  &c.  &c. 


NEW  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BV 


In  Two  Vols.  12mo. 

FIRST   LOVE, 

A   NOVEL. 

"Its  style  is  elegant,  and  its  information  that  of  a  lady  of  amiable  feel 
ings  and  motives,  who  well  understands  her  sex." — Spectator. 

"The  whole  of  the  story,  but  particularly  the  dawning  of  that  early 
dawning  of  life's  morning,  First  Love,  and  the  subsequent  progress  of  that 
passion,  are  indeed  delightfully  sketched."  —Morning  Post. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TRAITS  AND    STORIES   OF   THE 
IRISH    PEASANTRY 

FIRST  SERIES. 

"  Admirable — truly,  intensely  Irish  :  never  were  the  outrageous  whimsi 
calities  of  that  strange,  wild,  imaginative  people  so  characteristically  de 
scribed  ;  nor  amidst  all  the  fun,  frolic,  and  folly,  is  there  any  dearth  of 
poetry,  pathos,  and  passion.  The  author  's  a  jewel." — Glasgow  Journal. 

"To  those  who  have  a  relish  for  a  few  tit-bits  of  rale  Irish  story-tell 
ing, — whether  partaking  of  the  tender  or  the  facetious,  or  the  grotesque, — 
let  them  purchase  these  characteristic  sketches."— Sheffield  Iris. 

"  The  sister  country  has  never  furnished  such  sterling  genius,  such  irre 
sistibly  humorous,  yet  faithful  sketches  of  character  among  the  lower  ranks 
of  Patlanders,  as  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  pages  of  these  delightful  vo 
lumes." — Bristol  Journal. 

"This  is  a  capitaf  book,  full  of  fun  and  humour,  and  most  character 
istically  Irish." — New  Monthly  Magazine. 

"  Neither  MissEdgeworth,  nor  the  author  of  the  O'Hara  Tales,  could  have 
written  any  thing  more  powerful  than  this." — Edinburgh  Literary  Gazette. 

"  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  for  a  minute  and  accurate  sketching  of 
the  character,  manners,  and  language  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  Irish,  no 
book  was  ever  published  at  all  equal  to  this." — Spectator. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TRAITS  AND    STORIES   OF   THE 
IRISH   PEASANTRY. 

SECOND  SERIES. 

"  Traits  and  Stories  of  Irish  Peasantry.— The  whole  story  is  one  of 
that  mirth-inspiring  nature,  that  those  who  read  it  without  hearty  laugh 
ter  must  be  either  miserable  or  very  imperturbable." — Metropolitan,  edited 
by  T.  Campbell. 

"  There  is  strength,  vigour — and  above  all— truth,  in  every  story,  in 
every  sentence,  every  line  he  writes.  The  statesman  ought  to  read  such 
books  as  these ;  they  would  tell  him  more  of  the  true  stale  of  the  country 
than  he  has  ever  heard  from  the  lips  of  her  orators,  or  the  despatches  of 
the  '  Castle  Hacks.'  We  wish  Mr.  Carlton  would  send  forth  a  cheap  edi 
tion,  that '  Traits  and  Stories'  of  Irish  peasants  might  be  in  the  hands  of 
people  as  well  as  peers." — Bulwer's  JVezo  Monthly  Magazine. 


E.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.   HART. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

THE     STAFF-OFFICER. 

OR,  THE  SOLDIER  OF  FORTUNE. 
A   TALE   OF  REAL  LIFE. 

" The  web  of  life  is  of  a  mingled  yarn,  good  and  ill  together;  our  vir 
tues  would  be  proud  if  our  faults  whipped  them  not,  and  our  crimes  would 
despair  if  they  were  not  cherished  by  our  virtues." 

BY   OLIVER   MOORE. 

"  We  are  prepared  to  admit  that  our  extracts  do  not  do  justice  to  the 
work:  the  writer's  power  is  in  discriminating/ewuzJe  character  ;  but  as  he 
judiciously  makes  it  develope  itself  by  incident,  to  illustrate  this  would 
require  scenes  and  pages  to  be  transferred  to  our  columns.  As  a  whole, 
this  novel  will  be  read  with  interest :  it  is  light  and  pleasant ;  with  many 
very  natural  scenes,  many  excellent  and  well-drawn  characters,  and  with 
out  one  line  or  word  of  affectation  or  pretence." — Athenaum. 

"  This  is  a  most  entertaining  work  :  it  is  written  with  great  spirit,  ele- 
eance,  and  candour.  The  delineation  of  character  (particularly  that  of 
many  distinguished  individuals  officially  connected  with  Ireland  during 
the  Pitt  administration)  is  skilfully  and  vividly  drawn  ;  and  the  multifa 
rious  incidents— several  of  which  are  of  a  highly  piquant  description — 
are  given  with  a  tact  and  delicacy  creditable  to  the  judgment  and  talent 
of  the  author.  We  can  say  with  truth,  that  we  have  fairly  gone  through 
this  tale  of  real  life  without  being  cloyed  or  wearied  for  a  single  moment ; 
but  that  it  excited,  and  kept  up,  an  interest  in  our  minds  which  few  vo 
lumes  designed  for  mere  amusement  have  been  able  to  inspire."— Brigh 
ton  Herald. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

THE    NAVAL    OFFICER; 

OR,  SCENES  AND  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  LIFE 

OF  FRANK  MILDMAY. 
By  the  Author  of  "  PETER  SIMPLE,"  "  THE  Kinre's  OWN,"  etc. 

"This  is  the  most  seaman-like  composition  that  has  yet  issued  from  the 
press.  We  recommend  it  to  all  who  '  live  at  home  at  ease,'  and  need 
scarcely  say,  that  noman-of-wars  man  should  remain  an  hour  without  it." 
— Atlas. 

The  following  beautiful  and  judicious  compliment  to  the  genius  of  Cap 
tain  Marryatt,  author  of  the  Naval  Officer,  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Bui  wer, 
who,  it  will  be  acknowledged,  is  no  inexperienced  or  unobserving  critic : 

"  Far  remote  from  t^p  eastern  and  the  voluptuous — from  the  visionary 
and  refining — from  the  pale  colouring  of  drawing-room  life,  and  the  subtle 
delicacies  of  female  sentiment  and  wit,  the  genius  of  Captain  Marryatt 
embodies  itself  in  the  humour,  the  energy,  the  robust  and  masculine  vigour 
of  bustling  and  actual  existence  ;  it  has  been  braced  by  the  sea  breezes  ; 
it  walks  abroad  in  the  mart  of  busy  men,  with  a  firm  step  and  a  cheerful 
and  healthy  air.  Not,  indeed,  that  he  is  void  of  a  certain  sentiment,  and 
an  intuition  into  the  more  hidden  sources  of  mental  interest;  but  these 
are  not  his  forte,  or  his  appropriate  element.  He  is  best  in  a  rich  and 
various  humour— rich,  for  there  is  nothing  poor  or  threadbare  in  his  ma 
terials.  His  characters  are  not,  as  Scott's,  after  all,  mere  delineations  of 
one  oddity,  uttering  the  same  eternal  phraseology,  from  the  '  prodigious'  of 
Dominie  Sampson,  to  '  provant'  of  Major  Dalgetty— a  laughable,  but  some 
what  poor  invention  :  they  are  formed  of  compound  and  complex  character 
istics,  and  evince  no  trifling  knowledge  of  the  metaphysics  of  social  life." 


NEW  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

THE     CONTRAST 

A  NOVEL. 
By  EARL  MULGBAVE,  Author  of"  MATILDA,"  "  YES  AND  No,"  etc. 

" '  Yes  and  No'  contained  the  best  tableaux  of  actual— human— English 
society  in  the  nineteenth  century,  of  any  novel  we  know  of.  The  same 
characteristics  that  distinguished  the  most  agreeable  novel  are  equally 
remarkable  in  its  successors." — Bulwer's  New  Monthly  Magazine. 

"  'Contrast'  cannot  fail  to  prove  interesting." — Court  Journal, 

"  These  volumes  possess  the  rather  uncommon  merit  of  a  very  inter 
esting  story.  The  design  is  to  paint  a  man  whose  strong  feelings  are 
curbed  by  an  over-fastidiousness — what  the  French  so  happily  term  un- 
honime  difficile." — London  Literary  Gazette. 

"  Messrs.  Carey  and  Hart  have  republished,  in  two  neat  volumes,  Earl 
Mulgrave's  novel  of  the  '  Contrast,'  which  has  been  so  favourably  received 
in  England.  It  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  novels  of  the  kind,  that  has 
issued  from  the  press  for  years." — Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

"  '  Pelham,'  and  '  Yes  and  No,'  are  perhaps  the  only  paintings  of  the  pre 
sent  time  which  are  drawn  with  the  accuracy  of  knowledge,  and  the  viva 
city  of  talent.  Were  we  to  be  asked  by  a  foreigner  to  recommend  those 
novels  which,  founded  on  truth,  gave  the  most  just  delineation  of  the  higher 
classes  in  England,  it  is  to  the  above  mentioned  works  we  should  refer. 
The  present  volumes,  however,  are  an  infinite  improvement  on  their  predeces 
sor."— London  Literary  Gazette. 


In  One  Volume,  8vo. 

MEMOIRS    OF    MARSHAL    NET, 

COMPILED  FROM  PAPERS  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  HIS  FAMILY. 

The  work  has  been  put  together  under  the  direction  and  management 
of  the  Duke  of  Elchingen,  Marshal  Ney's  second  son,  who  has  affixed  his 
signature  to  every  sheet  sent  to  press. 

"  They  may  be  regarded  as  the  Ney  Papers,  connected  together  by  an 
interesting  biography;  the  anecdotes  with  which  they  are  interspersed 
have  plainly  been  collected  with  great  pains  from  all  the  early  friends  of 
that  illustrious  warrior." — Blackwood's  Magazine. 

"  The  memoirs  before  us  are  founded  upon  the  papers  and  documents 
which  he  left  behind  him  at  his  death,  consisting  of  anecdotic  and  bio 
graphical  fragments,  accounts  of  his  divers  missions  and  campaigns,  and 
the  substance  of  many  extraordinary  secrets  intrusted  to  him  as  a  gene 
ral  and  a  statesman.  All  these  materials  throw  great  light  upon  the  history 
of  the  French  empire,  as  the  details  given  in  the  memoirs  possess  the 
strongest  interest."— Pennsylvania  Inquirer. 


E.    L.    CAREY   AND  A.   HART. 


In  One  Volume,  12mo. 

CONVERSATIONS 

ON  VEGETABLE   PHYSIOLOGY; 

COMPREHENDING  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  BOTANY,  WITH  THEIR  APPLICATION 
TO  AGRICULTURE. 

By  the  Author  of  "  COXVERSATIOXS  ox  CHEMISTRY,"  &c.  &c. 
Adapted  to  the  use  of  schools  by 

J.  L.  BLAKE,  A.  M. 
Third  American  Edition,  with  coloured  plates. 

IN  PREPARATION, 

THE    GIFT; 

A   CHRISTMAS    AND    NEW    YEAR'S   PRESENT, 
.    ,    y  FOR    1835. 

Edited  by  Miss  LESLIE,  author  of  "  PEXCII,  SKETCHES,"  &c. 
The  publishers  have  the  promise  of  articles  from  many  of  the  most 
popular  authors  of  the  day.  The  ILLUSTRATIONS  are  in  the  hands  of 
some  of  the  most  eminent  engravers,  and  no  expense  will  be  spared  to 
render  the  work  in  every  respect  equal  to  the  foreign  productions  of  the 
same  class. 

MATHEMATICS  FOR  PRACTICAL  MEN; 

BEING 

A   COMMON-PLACE   BOOK 

OF  PRINCIPLES,  THEOREMS,  RULES  AND  TABLES,  IN  VARIOUS  DEPARTMENTS  OF 

PURE  AND  MIXED  MATHEMATICS, 

With  their  applications;  especially  to  the  pursuits  of  surveyors,  archi 
tects,  mechanics,  and  civil  engineers.    With  numerous  engravings. 

BY  OLINTHUS  GREGORY,  LL.D.,F.R.A.S. 

SECOND  EDITION,  CORRECTED  AND  IMPROVED. 

"Only  let  men  awake,  and  fix  their  eyes,  one  while  on  the  nature  of 
things,  another  while  on  the  application  of  them  to  Ihe  use  and  service 
of  mankind." — Lord  Bacon. 


In  One  Volume,  ISmo. 

COLMAN'S    BROAD    GRINS. 

A  NEW  EDITION,  WITH  ADDITIONS. 

"'This  is  a  little  volume  of  the  comic,'  which  we  recollect  to  have 
laughed  over  many  a  time,  in  our  boyish  days,  and  since.    It  is  old  stand 
ard  fun,— a  comic  classic." — Baltimore  Gazette. 
_ 


NEW  WORKS    PUBLISHED  BY 


ENGLISH  EDITIONS. 


Price  37^  cents  each  number. 

CUVIER'S   ANIMAL   KINGDOM; 

Now  in  course  of  publication  in  London.  The  Animal  Kingdom,  ar 
ranged  according  to  its  organization,  serving  as  a  foundation  for  the 
natural  history  of  animals,  and  an  introduction  to  comparative  anatomy, 
with  figures  designed  and  coloured  after  nature.  The  Crustacea,  Arach- 
nides  Insecta,  by  Latreille,  translated  from  thelatest  French  edition,  with 
additional  notes  and  illustrations,  by  nearly  five  hundred  additional  plates, 
to  be  completed  in  thirty-six  monthly  numbers,  at  37£  cents  each. 

Six  numbers  have  already  been  received.  The  attention  of  the  public 
is  particularly  requested  to  this  work,  as  it  is,  without  question,  by  far 
the  cheapest  and  most  beautiful  edition  of  the  "  Animal  Kingdom"  of 
Cuvier  that  has  yet  appeared. 


LANDSCAPE  AND  PORTRAIT  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OF  THE 

WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

NEW  EDITION ; 
Containing  one  hundred  and  twenty  superb  engravings. 

The  above  work  is  complete  in  twenty-four  numbers,  and  supplied  at 
the  moderate  price  of  seventy-jive  cents  per  number.  The  former  edition 
sold  at  double  the  price. 

ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE    POETICAL  WORKS    OF 

SIR    WALTER    SCOTT; 

Now  in  course  of  publication  in  England ;  to  be  complete  in  twelve 
monthly  numbers,  four  of  which  have  already  appeared.  Price  75  cents 
each. 


FINDEN'S  LANDSCAPE  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OF  THE  LIFE  AND  WORKS  OF 

LORD     BYRON. 

Price  75  cents  per  number. 

To  be  completed  in  24  numbers,  18  of  which  have  already  appeared.   Each 
number  contains  five  highly-finished  engravings. 


£.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


A  WHISPER 

TO    A   NEWLY-MARRIED    PAIR. 

"  Hail,  wedded  love  I  by  gracious  Heaven  design'd, 
At  once  the  source  and  glory  of  mankind." 

"We  solicit  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  this  publication,  as  one, 
though  small,  of  infinite  value." — Baltimore  Minerva. 

"  '  The  Whisper'  is  fully  deserving  the  compliments  bestowed  upon  it, 
and  we  join  heartily  in  recommending  it  to  our  friends,  whether  married 
or  single — for  much  useful  instruction  may  be  gathered  from  its  pages." — 
Lady's  Book. 

"  The  work  contains  some  original  suggestions  that  are  just,  and  many 
excellent  quotations ;  some  of  her  hints  to  the  ladies  should  have  been 
whispered  in  a  tone  too  low  to  be  overheard  by  the  men." — Daily  Chronicle. 

In  One  Volume,  ISrao. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  THE 

ART  OF  MODERN  HORSEMANSHIP 

FOR    LADIES   AND  GENTLEMEN, 
IN  WHICH  ALL  THE  LATE  IMPROVEMENTS  ARE  APPLIED  TO  PRACTICE. 

Translated  from  the  French,  by  DANIEL  J.  DESMOND. 

THE  ART  or  HORSEMANSHIP. — This  is  the  title  of  a  neat  little  work? 
translated  from  the  French  of  Mr.  Lebeaud,  by  Daniel  J.  Desmond,  Esq.i 
of  this  city,  and  just  published  by  Carey  &  Hart.  It  gives  full  and  explicit 
directions  for  breaking  and  managing  a  horse,  and  goes  into  detail  on  the 
proper  mode  of  mounting,  the  posture  in  the  saddle,  the  treatment  of  the 
animal  under  exercise,  &x.  An  appendix  is  added,  containing  instructions 
for  the  ladies,  in  mounting  and  dismounting. 

The  Philadelphia  public  are  under  obligations  to  Mr.  Desmond  for  this 
translation.  We  have  long  needed  a  manual  of  horsemanship,  to  correct 
the  inelegant  habits  in  which  many  of  our  riders  indulge,  and  to  produce 
uniformity  in  the  art  of  equitation.  We  see  daily  in  our  streets,  mounted 
men,  who  totter  in  their  seats  as  if  suffering  under  an  ague-fit ;  others 
who  whip,  spur,  and  rant,  as  if  charging  an  enemy  in  battle ;  and  again 
others,  of  slovenly  habits,  with  cramped  knees,  and  toes  projecting  out 
wards,  who  occupy  a  position  utterly  devoid  of  every  thing  like  ease, 
grace,  or  beauty.  These  things  are  discreditable  to  our  community,  and 
earnestly  do  we  hope,  that  this  book  will  have  many  attentive  readers. 
—Philadelphia  Gazette. 

In  One  Volume,  12mo 

TWO  HUNDRED   RECEIPTS  IN 

DOMESTIC   FRENCH    COOKERY. 

By  Miss  LESLIE,  Author  of  the  "  SEVENTY-FIVE  RECEIPTS." 
Price  50  cents. 

" '  The  200  Receipts  by  Miss  Leslie,'  published  by  Carey  and  Hart  of  Phi- 
ladelphia,  has  been  much  praised,  and  we  think  deservedly.  The  selection 
of  subjects  made  by  the  accomplished  writer  is  of  a  most  tempting  and 
tasteful  description,  and  we  must  do  her  the  justice  to  say,  that  she  has 
treated  them  in  such  an  eloquent  and  forcible  manner,  as  to  raise  in  the 
minds  of  all  dispassionate  readers  the  most  tender  and  pleasurable  asso 
ciations.  We  commend  her  to  the  careful  perusal  and  respect  of  all  thrifty 
housewives." — JVezo  York  Mirror. 


NEW  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


In  One  Volume,  12mo. 
THE    PAINTER'S   A  ND   C  OL  0  URM  A  N  '  S 

COMPLETE    GUIDE; 

Being  a  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Preparation  of  Colours,  and  their  ap 
plication  to  the  different  kinds  of  Painting ;  in  which  is  particularly 
described  the  WHOLE  ART  OF  HOUSE  PAINTING.  By  P.  F.  TINGRY, 
Professor  of  Chymistry,  Natural  History,  and  Mineralogy,  in  the  Aca 
demy  of  Geneva.  First  American,  from  the  third  London  Edition, 
corrected  and  considerably  improved  by  a  practical  chymist. 


In  One  Volume,  18mo. 
THE 

FAMILY   DYER   AND    SCOURER; 

Being  a  Complete  Treatise  on  the  Arts  of  Dying  and  Cleaning  every 
article  of  Dress,  whether  made  of  Wool,  Cotton,  Silk,  Flax,  or  Hair  ; 
also  Bed  and  Window  Furniture,  Carpels,  Hearth-rugs,  Counterpanes, 
Bonnets,  Feathers,  &c.  By  WILLIAM  TUCKER,  Dyer  and  Scourer  in 
the  Metropolis. 


ELEMENTS    OF    MORALITY 
FOR  THE   INSTRUCTION   OF   YOUTH. 

WITH  SCHIPTURAL  REFERENCES. 

Translated  by  A.  BOLMAR,  and  E.  K.  PB.ICE 
Half  bound.     Price  19  cents. 


In  One  Volume,  12mo. 

PICTURE    OF    PHILADELPHIA; 

Or  a  brief  account  of  the  various  institutions  and  public  objects  in  this 
Metropolis,  forming  a  Guide  for  Strangers 
Plan  of  the  city.     In  a  neat  pocket  volume. 


In  One  Volume,  12mo. 

THE    HORSE 

IN    ALL   HIS   VARIETIES   AND   USES; 

His  breeding,  rearing,  and  management,  whether  in  labour  or  rest ; 
with  RULES  occasionally  interspersed,  for  his  PRESERVATION  from 
disease.  By  JOHN  LAWRENCE,  author  of  "The  History  of  the 
Horse,"  etc. 

"  Independently  of  the  practical  value  of  the  book,  and  it  is  really  and 
extensively  valuable,  it  is  one  of  the  most  amusing  the  reader  will  meet 
with  in  a  thousand,  complete  and  unique,  embracing  every  possible  sub 
ject  that  can  be  connected  with  the  horse." — Monthly  Magazine. 


CHESNUT  STREET, 

OCTOBER,    1833. 

NEW  WORKS 

PUBLISHED 

AND 

PREPARING  FOR  PUBLICATION, 

E.  L.  CAREY  &  A!  HART,  PHILAD. 


In  two  Volumes,  12rao. 

THE    ROUE'. 

By  the  author  of  the  "  OXONIANS." 

In  one  Volume,  8vo. 
A    TREATISE  ON 

LESSER   SURGERY; 

OR   THE 

MINOR  SURGICAL  OPERATIONS. 

BY  BOURGERY,  D.  M.  P. 

Author  of  "  A  Complete  Treatise  on  Human  Anatomy,  comprising  Ope 
rative  Medicine,"  translated  from  the  French,  with  notes, 

and  an  appendix;  by 
WILLIAM  C.  ROBERTS  AND  JAS.  B.  KISSAM. 


In  two  Volumes,  12mo. 

MANNERS    OF    THE    DAY. 

A    NOVEL. 


In  one  Volume,  12mo. 

MAGENDIE'S    FORMULARY. 

A  new  Edition,  revised  and  corrected. 
In  two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TALES  OF  THE  MUNSTER  FESTIVALS. 

By  the  Author  of  the  "  COLLEBIAKS." 


NEW  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TRAVELS    IN   VARIOUS    PARTS 
OF    PERU ; 

INCLUDING    A    YEAR'S    RESIDENCE    IN    POTOSI. 

By  EDMUND  TEMPLE,  Kt.  of  the  Royal  and  distinguished  Order 

of  CHARLES  III. 

"  These  travels  in  Peru  will  long  maintain  their  reputation  for  the  ac 
curacy  of  detail,  the  spirit  of  the  style,  and  the  utility  of  the  information 
they  contain.  The  professional  matter  is  very  valuable." — Bulwer's  New 
Monthly  Magazine. 

"  There  is  much  to  instruct,  and  a  great  deal  to  amuse.  Amid  the  de 
tails  of  personal  adventures,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  shrewd  and  strong  ob 
servation." — London  Monthly  Magazine. 

"  We  have  met  with  no  volumes  of  travels  in  that  country  with  which, 
upon  the  whole,  we  have  been  so  much  pleased  as  the  one  before  us." — 
Baltimore  Gazette. 

"  This  is  an  instructive  and  entertaining  work."— National  Gazette. 
"This  book  is  one  of  the  most  entertaining  that  has  been  issued  from 
the  press  for  some  time." — Pennsylvania  Inquirer. 

In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

SYDENHAM; 

OR,  MEMOIRS  OF  A  MAN  OF  THE  WORLD. 

"  A  new  novel  of  fashionable  life,  under  the  title  of  '  Sydenham,  or  Me 
moirs  of  a  Man  of  the  World,'  will  shortly  be  given  to  the  public.  It  ex 
hibits  the  history  of  a  young  man  of  rank  and  fortune,  who,  being  of  a 
decidedly  satirical  turn,  resolves  to  gratify  his  favourite  penchant  to  ascer 
tain  the  internal  state  of  fashionable  society,  and  minutely  to  observe  hu 
man  nature  under  every  variety  of  shade  and  circumstance.  Among  other 
characters  with  whom  he  conies  in  contact,  is  the  celebrated  BRUMMEL, 
who  figures  under  the  name  of  Beaumont  :  this  gentleman  arrests  his 
peculiar  attention,  and  serves  him  for  a  complete  study.  The  work,  is, 
moreover,  illustrative  of  those  sets  or  circles  in  the  world  of  ton  which 
have  never  been  depicted  in  the  pages  of  fiction,  and  respecting  which  so 
much  curiosity  has  long  been  felt." — JVezc  Monthly  Magazine. 

"  Each  of  these  volumes  is  in  fact  a  separate  work — each  in  a  different 
style  and  spirit — each  aspiring  to  a  different  fame  in  composition.  'Sy 
denham'  is  a  capital  work,  which,  without  the  trouble  of  puffing,  must 
make  a  great  stir  in  the  upper  and  political  circles." — London  Lit.  Gaz. 

"  Sydenham  is  well  written,  and  contains  much  pleasant  and  some  se 
vere  satire.  The  present  Whig  ministers  in  England  are  handled  without 
gloves,  and  a  number  of  distinguished  personages  occupy  more  conspicu 
ous  places  than  they  would  have  been  likely  to  choose,  had  the  matteir 
t>een  referred  to  themselves." — Courier. 

The  work  before  us  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  its  class  ;  it  bears 
intrinsic  evidence  of  a  new  writer.  The  portrait  of  Brummel,  the  '  arch 
dandy,' is  excellent ;  and  all  the  scenes  in  which  he  is  engaged  are  ma 
naged  with  skill  and  tact.  There  is,  in  fact,  sufficient  material  in  this  book 
x>r  three  or  four  novels." — New  Monthly  Magazine. 

"  All  the  personages  are  of  course  real,  though  under  fictitious  names  ; 
:hese  pages  are,  in  reality,  memoirs  of  the  intiigues  of  the  times,  full  of 
keen  observation,  graphic  sketches  of  character,  biting  sarcasm,  one  page 
of  which  would  make  the  fortune  of  a  pamphlet." — London  Gazette. 


E.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

RECORDS     OF     TRAVELS 
IN  TURKEY,  GREECE,  &c. 

IN    THE    YEARS    1829,  1830,  AND  1831; 

AND   OF   A   CRUISE   IN   THE   BLACK   SEA,  WITH  THE   CAPTAIN   PASHA. 
BY   ADOLPHUS   SLADE,  ESQ. 

"  One  of  the  most  valuable  and  interesting  works  which  has  yet  been 
placed  in  our  hands,  on  the  domestic  state  of  Turkey." — Monthly  Review. 

"  We  do  not  know  when  we  have  met  with  two  volumes  more  amusing 
— they  are  full  of  highly  entertaining  and  curious  matter." — Court  Jour. 

"  The  work  before  us  supplies  the  best  description  of  this  remarkable 
nation." — Courier. 

"  One  of  the  most  amusing  and  interesting  of  oriental  travellers,  none 
having  ever  equalled  him  in  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  true  state  of 
society,  and  the  true  character  of  the  Turks." — Spectator. 

"  We  can  warmly  recommend  this  book  for  perusal,  it  is  not  only  very 
amusing  but  very  valuable." — Metropolitan. 

"  We  can  assure  our  readers  that  tio  records  of  travels  in  modern  times, 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  presents  so  many  features  of  general  at 
traction  as  the  volumes  before  us." — London  Monthly  Review. 

"Mr.  Slade  has  produced,  without  any  trace  of  pretension,  one  of  the 
most  sensible  and  agreeable  books  of  travel  we  have  ever  had  the  plea 
sure  to  peruse." — United  Service  Journal. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

LEGENDS    OF    THE    RHINE. 

By  T.  C.  GRATTAK,  Esq.  Author  of  "  HIGH- WATS  AND  BY-WAYS." 

"  We  are  well  content  to  pass  an  hour  once  more  with  the  lively  and 
entertaining  author  of  '  High-ways  and  By-ways."  The  hour  has  not  yet 
gone  by,  and  we  have  not  completed  the  perusal  of  the  two  volumes  ;  but 
the  tales  we  have  observed  are  worthy  the  repute  in  which  the  writer  is 
held,  and  are  even  of  a  higher  order — more  chaste  in  language  and  perfect 
in  style." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  Messrs.  Carey  and  Hart  have  just  issued  '  Legends  of  the  Rhine,'  by  the 
author  of  '  High-ways  and  By-ways.'  To  those  who  recollect  Mr.  Grat- 
tan's  former  writings,  (and  who  among  novel  readers  does  not  ?)  it  is  only 
necessary  to  say,  that  the  present  '  Legends'  are,  in  no  respect,  inferior  to 
their  predecessors.  The  traditions  which  he  has  here  wrought  into  shape 
are  all  said  to  have  an  existence  among  the  dwellers  near  the  mighty  river ; 
and  it  is  certain  they  are  full  of  romantic  interest.  The  '  Legends'  are 
twelve  in  number,  and,  though  not  equal  in  all  respects,  there  is  no  one 
of  them  that  does  not  possess  a  strong  claim  to  admiration." — Saturday 
Courier. 

"  Few  sets  of  stories,  published  within  the  last  ten  years,  have  been  more 
popular  than  those  called  '  High- ways  and  By-ways.'  The  author  of  these, 
after  having  produced  two  or  three  successful  works  of  a  different  sort,  has 
given  us  two  volumes  of  tales,  with  the  title  '  Legends  of  the  Rhine,' 
which  are  to  be  published  to-morrow,  we  understand,  by  Carey  and  Hart. 
The  author  professes,  seriously,  to  have  founded  his  narratives  on  tradi 
tions  yet  extant  among  those  who  live  near  the  banks  of  the  great  German 
river;  and  many  of  them  end  so  tragically  that  we  can  hardly  suspect  the 
writer  of  having  invented  them  for  his  own  amusement  or  that  of  his 
readers.  They  are  all  interesting,  though  not  all  skilfully  framed;  and 
each  of  them  contains  pages  that  may  be  placed  in  a  competition  with  the 
most  shining  passages  of  any  other  living  novel  writer. 


NEW  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

STANLEY      BUXTON; 

OR,  THE   SCHOOLFELLOWS. 

By  JOHX  GALT,  Esq.,  Author  of  "  AXNTALS  OF  THE    PAHISH," 
"  LAWRIE  TODD,"  "EBEK  ERSKINE,"  etc. 

"  While  guile  is  guiltless,  and  life's  business  play, 
Friendships  are  formed  that  never  know  decay." 

41  Oh,  that  all  novels  were  like  this  piece  of  admirable  fiction."— Spec 
tator. 

"  We  must  say  this  work  is  in  Mr.  Gait's  best  style,  the  volume  before 
us  contains  samples  of  his  tastes  and  of  his  powers." — Bulwer's  New 
Monthly  Magazine. 

"  Mr.  Gait's  new  novel  is  on  our  table,  and  we  regret  we  have  not  space 
to  go  further  into  the  arcana  of '  Stanley  Buxton,'  in  which  the  author  has 
aimed  at  painting  natural  feelings  in  situations  not  common,  and  with 
much  success.  Some  of  his  descriptions  are  also  deserving  of  special  praise. 
Two  episodes  in  the  second  volume  add  to  the  general  interest,  and  further 
recommend  the  work  to  public  favour." — London  Literary  Gazette. 

"  We  find  in  this  work  the  force  of  conception,  and  the  full  execution 
which  distinguish  the  '  Annals  of  the  Parish,'  and  '  Lawrie  Todd.'  "—Sun. 

"  The  new  novel,  '  Stanley  Buxton,'  just  published  by  Carey  and  Hart, 
may  be  called  one  of  the  very  best  of  Mr.  Gait's  productions."— Daily 
Chronicle. 

'  In  '  Stanley  Buxton'  there  is  the  same  delightful  freshness,  the  same 
striking  originality  of  purpose,  the  same  easy  and  flowing,  yet  racy  and 
spirited  manner  which  characterized  the  'Annals  of  the  Parish.'"— Satur 
day  Courier. 

"For  touching  the  heart,  for  keen  knowledge  of  nature,  and  for  quiet 
and  beautiful  descriptions,  like  the  still  life  in  a  painter's  sketch,  Gait  pos 
sesses  a  vision  and  a  power,  that  are  not  often  surpassed,  except  by  Bul- 
wer.  The  author  of  '  Stanley  Buxton'  is  infinitely  superior  to  D'Israeli, 
whose  imagination  is  as  excursive  and  capricious  as  the  wing  of  a  sea- 
fowl."—  Chronicle. 

"  Mr.  Gait  is  a  writer  so  well  known  and  so  deservedly  admired,  that  the 
announcement  of  a  new  novel  from  his  pen  is  sufficient  to  awaken  gene 
ral  curiosity."— Gazette. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

FITZ      GEORGE. 

A  NOVEL. 

"Smiles  without  mirth,  and  pastimes  without  pleasure, 
Youth  without  honour,  age  without  respect." — Byron. 

"  There  are  scenes  in  it  which  must  awaken  attention  and  interest ;  it 
is  evidently  written  by  a  powerful  and  accustomed  hand." — Athenaeum. 

"Fitz  George  is  a  production  of  great  talent." — Weekly  Despatch. 

"  If  all  novels  were  like  this,  they  would  soon  be  in  the  hands  of  philo 
sophers  as  well  as  fashionables." — True  Sun. 

"  Should  a  library  be  formed  in  Buckingham  Palace,  these  volumes  should 
have  a  shelf  in  it  to  themselves." — Beirs  New  Weekly  Messenger. 

"  The  whole  book  abounds  with  the  most  stirring  interest." — National 
Omnibus. 


E.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

OUR      ISLAND. 

COMPRISING 

FORGERY,  A  TALE;  AND,   THE  LUNATIC,  A  TALE. 

"There  is  a  great  share  of  talent  in  these  pages,  which  have  also  the 
merit  of  being  laid  chiefly  among  scenes  new  to  a  large  portion  of  our 
readers." — Literary  Gazette. 

"  The  Lunatic. — This  is  indeed  an  excellent  tale — well  told — with  variety 
of  incidents  and  character,  and  with  much  humour.  Not  to  speak  in  dis 
paragement  of  the  first  tale,  we  must  confess  that  we  have  been  highly 
pleased  with  the  second,  and  we  think  our  readers'  time  will  be  amply  re 
paid  by  a  perusal  of  both." — London  Monthly  Magazine. 

"This  work  is  of  a  generally  interesting  character,  and  we  feel  it  our 
duty  to  encourage  the  publication  of  such  productions  as  these  tales,  since 
they  point  attention  to  errors  of  legislation." — Weekly  Despatch. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

PETER      SIMPLE; 

OR,    ADVENTURES    OF    A    MIDSHIPMAN. 

By  the  Author  of  "  THE  KING'S  OWN," 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TOM    CRINGLE'S    LOG. 

"  The  scenes  are  chiefly  nautical,  and  we  can  safely  say,  that  no  author 
of  the  present  day,  not  even  excepting  our  own  Cooper,  has  surpassed  him 
in  his  element." — U.  S.  Gazette. 

"The  sketches  are  not  only  replete  with  entertainment,  but  useful,  as 
affording  an  accurate  and  vivid  description  of  scenery,  and  of  life  and  man 
ners  in  the  West  Indies."— Boston  Traveller. 

"  We  think  none  who  have  read  this  work  will  deny  that  the  author  is 
the  best  nautical  writer  who  has  yet  appeared.  He  is  not  Smollett,  he  is 
not  Cooper;  but  he  is  far  superior  to  them  both."— Boston  Transcript. 

"  The  scenes  are  chiefly  nautical,  and  are  described  in  a  style  of  beauty 
and  interest  never  surpassed  by  any  writer." — Baltimore  Gazette. 

"  The  author  has  been  justly  compared  with  Cooper,  and  many  of  his 
sketches  are  in  fact  equal  to  any  from  the  pen  of  our  celebrated  country 
man." — Saturday  Evening  Post. 

In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

TOM    CRINGLE'S    LOG. 

SECOND  SERIES. 


In  Three  Volumes,  12mo. 

TOM    CRINGLE'S    LOG. 

FIRST   AND   SECOND   SERIES. 
A    NEW  EDITION   COMPLETE. 

3 


NEW  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


In  One  Volume,  8vo. 
HALL  OJV  THE  LOSS  OF  BLOOD. 

RESEARCHES 

PRINCIPALLY   RELATIVE  TO 

THE  MORBID  AND  CURATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  LOSS 
OF  BLOOD. 

BY  MARSHALL  HALL,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.  E.,  &c.  &c. 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  we  have  been  much  pleased  with  Dr.  Hall's  work 
generally  ;  we  think  it  is  calculated  to  do  much  good  in  placing  the  sub 
ject  of  the  due  institution  of  blood-letting  on  a  practical  basis.  Dr.  Hall 
has  subjoined  a  plan  of  a  Register  of  Cases  of  Blood-letting,  which  would 
be  a  most  useful  record,  if  properly  kept ;  and  we  cannot  recommend  such 
a  detail  of  facts,  to  practitioners,  in  too  high  terms." — American  Journal 
of  Medical  Sciences,  JVo.  XL 

"  It  is  not  for  us  to  say  how  large  may  have  been  the  number  of  suf 
ferers,  but  we  know  some  have  perished  from  direct  exhaustion  compli 
cated  with  reaction,  who  might  have  been  saved,  if  the  principles  and 
practice  of  our  author  had  been  known  and  understood." — JV*.  A.  Med.  and 
Surg.  Journal,  JVo.  XX.  for  October,  1830. 


In  One  Volume,  8vo. 

TEJ1LE  ON  NEURALGIC  DISEASES. 
A    TREATISE 

ON    NEURALGIC    DISEASES, 

Dependent  upon  Irritation  of  the  Spinal  Marrow  and  Ganglia  of  the 
Sympathetic  Nerve. 

By  THOMAS  PRIDGIN  TEAIE, 

Member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  London,  of  the  Royal  Medi 
cal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  Senior  Surgeon  to  the  Leeds  Public  Dispensary. 

Price  31  cents. 

"  It  is  a  source  of  genuine  gratification  to  meet  with  a  work  of  this 
character,  when  it  is  so  often  our  lot  to  be  obliged  to  labour  hard  to  win 
now  a  few  grains  of  information  from  the  great  mass  of  dullness,  igno 
rance,  and  mistatement  with  which  we  are  beset,  and  cannot  too  highly 
recommend  it  to  the  attention  of  the  profession." — American  Journal  of 
the  Medical  Sciences,  No.  X. 


In  One  Volume,  8vo. 
SELECT  SPEECHES  OF 

JOHN     SERGEANT 

OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


E.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


SELECT 

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL  TRANSACTIONS. 

A  collection  of  the  most  valuable  Memoirs  read  to  the  Medico-Chirur- 
gical  Societies  of  London  and  Edinburgh ;  the  Association  of  Fellows 
and  Licentiates  of  the  King  and  Queen's  College  of  Physicians  in  Ire 
land  ;  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine  of  Paris  ;  the  Royal  Societies  of 
London  and  Edinburgh ;  the  Royal  Academy  of  Turin ;  the  Medical 
and  Anatomical  Societies  of  Paris,  &c.  &c.  &c. 

Edited  by  ISAAC  HAYS,  M.  D. 


In  One  Volume,  8vo. 
A    PRACTICAL 

COMPENDIUM    OF   MIDWIFERY: 

Being  the  course  of  Lectures  on  Midwifery,  and  on  the  Diseases  of 
VVomen  and  Infants,  delivered  at  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital. 

By  the  late  ROBERT  GOOCH,  M.  D. 

"  As  it  abounds,  however,  in  valuable  and  original  suggestions,  it  will 
be  found  a  useful  book  of  reference." — Drake's  Western  Journal. 


In  One  Volume,  8vo. 
AN    ACCOUNT    OF 

SOME  OF  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT 

DISEASES  PECULIAR  TO  WOMEN  j 

BY  ROBERT  GOOCH,  M.  D. 

"  In  this  volume  Dr.  Gooch  has  made  a  valuable  contribution  to  practi 
cal  medicine.  It  is  the  result  of  the  observation  and  experience  of  a  strong, 
sagacious,  and  disciplined  mind." — Transylvania  Journal  of  Medicine. 

"  This  work,  which  is  now  for  the  first  time  presented  to  the  profession 
in  the  United  States,  comes  to  them  with  high  claims  to  their  notice." — 
Drake's  Western  Journal. 

In  Two  Volumes,  12mo 

FRESCATIS  ; 
OR,    SCENES    IN    PARIS. 


In  One  Volume,  18mo. 

COL  MAN'S    BROAD    GRINS. 

A  NEW  EDITION,  WITH    ADDITIONS. 


E.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


In  One  Volume,  12mo. 
THE   GROOM'S   ORACLE,  AND 

POCKET    STABLE    DIRECTORY. 

In  which  the  Management  of  Horses  generally,  as  to  Health,  Dieting, 
and  Exercise,  is  considered,  in  a  Series  of  Familiar  Dialogues  between 
two  Grooms  engaged  in  training  Horses  to  their  work,  as  well  for  the 
Road  as  the  Chase  and  Turf.  .  By  JOHN  HINDS,  V.  S.,  Author  of  the 
"  Veterinary  Surgeon."  Embellished  with  an  elegant  Frontispiece,  by 
S.  ALKEN.  First  American,  from  the  second  London  Edition.  With 
considerable  additions,  and  an  appendix,  including  the  RECEIPT  BOOK 
of  JOHN  HINDS,  V.  S 

"  This  enlarged  edition  of  the  '  Groom's  Oracle'  contains  a  good  num 
ber  of  new  points  connected  with  training  prime  horses  ;  and  the  owners 
of  working  cattle,  also,  will  find  their  profit  in  consulting  the  practical 
remarks  that  are  applicable  to  their  teams  ;  on  the  principle  that  health 
preserved  is  better  than  disease  removed." 

"  The  GROOM'S  ORACLE,  by  J.  HINDS,  is  among  the  most  valuable  of  our 
recent  publications;  it  ought  to  be  in  the  possession  of  every  gentleman, 
who  either  has  in  possession,  or  has  a  chance  of  possessing,  the  noble  ani 
mal  to  whose  proper  treatment  the  author  has  directed  his  enlightened  re 
searches." — Taunton  Courier,  1830. 


REFLECTIONS 
ON   EVERY   DAY   IN   THE    WEEK, 

WITH  OCCASIONAL  THOUGHTS. 

BY    CATHARINE     TALBOT. 

Neatly  done  up  in  paper  with  gilt  edges.    Price  20  cents. 

"Catherine  Talbot's  Reflections  on  every  Day  of  the  Week  have  been  pub 
lished,  in  a  neat  and  popular  form,  by  Messrs.  Carey  and  Hart.  They  are 
simple,  and  applicable  to  every  reader,  and  distinguished  not  less  by  elo 
quent  thought,  than  by  sound  and  correct  judgment.  The  little  work  will 
be  read  by  no  one  without  profit." — Saturday  Evening  Post 

In  One  Volume,  8vo. 
TJ1TE  OJV  HYSTERIA. 

A    TREATISE    ON    "HYSTERIA." 

BY  GEORGE  TATE,  M.  D. 

"  As  public  journalists,  we  take  this  occasion  to  return  him  our  hearty 
thanks  for  the  pains  he  has  taken  to  shed  a  new  light  on  an  obscure  and 
much-neglected  topic." — North  JJmer.  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.  No.  XIX. 


E.  L.  CAREY  AND  A.  HART. 


In  One  Volume,  12mo. 

A  SUBALTERN  IN  AMERICA; 

COMPRISING 

HIS  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  THE  BRITISH  ARMY  AT  BALTI 
MORE,  WASHINGTON,  ETC.  DURING  THE  LATE  WAR. 


In  Two  Volumes,  12mo. 

NIGHTS-AT-MESS. 


In  Two  Volumes,  8vo. 

NATURE    DISPLAYED 

IN  HER  MODE  OF  TEACHING  LANGUAGE  TO  MAN; 

Being  a  new  and  infallible  method  of  acquiring  languages  with  un 
paralleled  rapidity ;  deduced  from  the  Analysis  of  the  human  Mind, 
and  consequently  suited  to  every  capacity ;  adapted  to  the  French, 

BY    N.    G.    DUFIEF. 

To  which  is  prefixed  a  development  of  the  author's  plan  of  tuition  : 
differing  entirely  from  every  other ;  so  powerful  in  its  operation  and 
so  very  economical,  that  a  liberal  education  can  be  afforded  even  to 
the  poorest  of  mankind. 

EIGHTH  EDITION,  ENLARGED  AND  IMPROVED. 


In  Two  Volumes,  8vo. 

DUFIEF'S    SPANISH    NATURE 
DISPLAYED. 

In  Two  Volumes,  8vo. 
A  NEW  UNIVERSAL  AND 

PRONOUNCING    DICTIONARY 

OF  THE  FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH  LANGUAGES. 

Containing  above  fifty  thousand  terms  and  names  not  to  be  found  in 
the  Dictionaries  of  feoyer,  Perry,  Nugent,  <fec.  &c. ;  to  which  is  added 
a  vast  fund  of  other  information  equally  beneficial  and  instructive. 

BY    N.    G.    DUFIEF. 
A  new  Edition,  revised  and  corrected  by  the  Author. 


NEW  WORKS— CAREY  &  HART. 


In  One  Volume,  18mo. 

THE  SURGEON-DENTIST'S  MANUAL. 

THE  SURGEON-DENTIST'S  ANATOMICAL  AND 

PHYSIOLOGICAL  MANUAL. 

By  G.  WAIT. 

Member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  London,  &c.  &c. 

"  The  work  cannot  fail,  we  think,  to  answer  well  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  designed,  of  a  manual  for  the  practical  dentist ;  and  in  the  notes 
will  be  found  many  useful  hints  respecting  the  diseases  of  these  structures." 
—Boston  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.  1830. 


MANUAL  OF  SURGICAL  OPERATIONS. 

CONTAINING  THE 

NEW    METHOD    OF    OPERATING 

DEVISED  BY  LISFRANC. 

Followed  by  two  Synoptic  Tables  of  Natural  and  Instrumental  Labours. 
By  J.  COSTER,  M.  D.  and  P.  of  the  University  of  Turin. 

"  Dr.  John  D.  Godman,  Lecturer  on  Anatomy,  in  this  city,  a  gentleman 
of  distinguished  professional  and  literary  talents,  having  translated  this 
small,  but  valuable  volume,  for  the  benefit  of  the  students  who  may  ho 
nour  our  University  by  their  attendance,  I  shall  merely  refer  to  that  work. 
I  have  more  pleasure  in  recommending,  inasmuch  as  a  short  system  of 
operative  surgery  has  been  a  desideratum."— Gibson's  Surgery,  Vol.  II. 
page  541. 

In  One  Volume,  8vo. 
SAISSY  ON  THE  EAR. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  INTERNAL  EAR. 

BY  J.  A.  SAISSY. 

Member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,  Literature,  and  Arts  in  Lyons, 
Fellow  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  same  city,  and  of  the  Medical  Socie 
ties  of  Bordeaux,  Orleans,  Marseilles,  &c.  Honoured  with  a  premium  by 
the  Medical  Society  of  Bordeaux,  and  since  enlarged  by  the  author. 

Translated  from  the  French  by  NATHAN  R.  SMITH,  Professor  of  Sur 
gery  m  the  University  of  Maryland,  with  a  Supplement  on  Diseases 
of  the  External  Ear,  by  the  Translator. 

FROISSART   AND    HIS  TIMES. 

BY  THE  LATE  BARRY  ST.  LEGER. 


